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Main Author: Bertulani, C. A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.09505
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author Bertulani, C. A.
author_facet Bertulani, C. A.
contents This is a brief history of photons, both soft and hard, real and virtual. About 150-100 years ago, Maxwell and Einstein discovered intriguing properties of electromagnetic fields and how to understand them both macroscopically and microscopically. Decades later, physicists developed the theory of renormalized quantum electrodynamics (QED), an incredibly accurate theory describing interactions of photons and other particles. Photons are used everywhere in academia and technological devices, from supermarket lasers and doors to academic studies in atomic, nuclear, and particle physics. In this article, I attempt to convey how the field of relativistic heavy ions rediscovered ultra-peripheral collisions (UPC) as a source of intense, almost real photons, and how it permits the study of a plethora of phenomena in the aforementioned academic fields. These phenomena are not always accessible by other means.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_09505
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Historical introduction to ultra peripheral collisions
Bertulani, C. A.
Nuclear Theory
This is a brief history of photons, both soft and hard, real and virtual. About 150-100 years ago, Maxwell and Einstein discovered intriguing properties of electromagnetic fields and how to understand them both macroscopically and microscopically. Decades later, physicists developed the theory of renormalized quantum electrodynamics (QED), an incredibly accurate theory describing interactions of photons and other particles. Photons are used everywhere in academia and technological devices, from supermarket lasers and doors to academic studies in atomic, nuclear, and particle physics. In this article, I attempt to convey how the field of relativistic heavy ions rediscovered ultra-peripheral collisions (UPC) as a source of intense, almost real photons, and how it permits the study of a plethora of phenomena in the aforementioned academic fields. These phenomena are not always accessible by other means.
title Historical introduction to ultra peripheral collisions
topic Nuclear Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.09505