Professor of Physics, Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences
4215 Homer A. Neal Lab
phone: 734.764.1598
About
Professor Thomas works in experimental and theoretical plasma physics. His research is focused on the physics and applications of high power laser interactions with plasma. When heated by lasers, highly non-equilibrium states of matter arise, where complex behavior such as collective wave-particle interactions is prevalent and only full kinetic descriptions of the particle distribution are valid. Light and plasma couple together strongly, leading to instabilities and nonlinear wave formation. At the highest intensities, quantum electrodynamic effects become important in determining the plasma dynamics. Applications of intense laser driven plasma include advanced, miniature particle accelerators, next generation photon sources and inertial fusion energy. Professor Thomas is part of the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science High Field Science group, using the HERCULES and Lambda-cubed very high power laser systems for investigating the physics of relativistic plasma.
Professor Thomas holds an NSF CAREER Award and an AFOSR Young Investigator Award.
Selected Publications
Theory of Radiative Electron Polarization in Stronger Laser Fields, (D. Seipt, D. Del Sorbor, C. P. Ridgers and A. G. R. Thomas), Phys. Rev. A 98, 023417 (2018).
Experimental Signatures of the Quantum Nature of Radiation Reaction in the Field of an Ultraintense Laser, (K. Poder, M. Tamburini, G. Sarri, A. Di Piazza, S. Kuschel, C. D. Baird, K. Behm, S. Bohlen, J. M. Cole, J. Corvan, M. Duff, E. Gerstmayr, C. H. Keitel, K. Krushelnick, S. P. D. Mangles, P. McKenna, C. D. Murphy, Z. Najmudin, C. P. Ridgers, G. M. Samarin, D. R. Symes, A. G. R. Thomas., J. Warwick and M. Zepf), Phys. Rev. X 8, 031004 (2018).
Experimental Evidence of Radiation Reaction in the Collision of a High-Intensity Laser Pulse with a Laser-Wakefield Accelerated Electron Beam, (J. M. Cole, K. T. Behm, E. Gerstmayr, T. G. Blackburn, J. C. Wood, C. D. Baird, M. J. Duff, C. Harvey, A. Ilderton, A. S. Joglekar, K. Krushelnick, S. Kuschel, M. Marklund, P. McKenna, C. D. Murphy, K. Poder, C. P. Ridgers, G. M. Samarin, G. Sarri, D. R. Symes, A. G. R. Thomas, J. Warwick, M. Zepf, Z. Najmudin and S. P. D. Mangles), Phys. Rev. X 8, 011020 (2018).
Coherent Control of Plasma Dynamics, (Z. H. He, B. Hou, V. Lebailly, J. A. Nees, K. Krushelnick and A. G. R. Thomas), Nat. Comms. 6, 7156 (2015).
The Effect of Nonlinear Quantum Electrodynamics on Relativistic Transparency and Laser Absorption in Ultra-Relativistic Plasmas, (P. Zhang, C. P. Ridgers and A. G. R. Thomas), New J. Phys. 17, 043051 (2015).
Ionization-Induced Self-Compression of Tightly Focused Femtosecond Laser Pulses, (Z. H. He, J. A. Nees, B. Hou, K. Krushelnick and A. G. R. Thomas), Phys. Rev. Lett. 113 (2014).
Magnetic Reconnection in Plasma under Inertial Confinement Fusion Conditions Driven by Heat Flux Effects in Ohm’s Law, (A. S. Joglekar, A. G. R. Thomas, W. Fox and A. Bhattacharjee), Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 105004 (2014).
Electron Diffraction Using Ultrafast Electron Bunches from a Laser-Wakefield Accelerator at kHz Repetition Rate, (Z. H. He, A. G. R. Thomas, B. Beaurepaire, J. A. Need, B. Hou, V. Malka, K. Krushelnick and J. Faure), Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 064104 (2013).
Strong Radiation-Damping Effects in a Gamma-Ray Source Generated by the Interaction of a High-Intensity Laser with a Wakefield-Accelerated Electron Beam, (A. G. R. Thomas, C. P. Ridgers, S. S. Bulanov, B. J. Griffin and S. P. D. Mangles), Phys. Rev. X 2, 041004 (2012).
A Review of Vlasov-Fokker-Planck Numerical Modeling of Inertial Confinement Fusion Plasma, (A. G. R. Thomas, M. Tzoufras, A. P. L. Robinson, R. J. Kingham, C. P. Ridgers, M. Sherlock and A. R. Bell), J. Comput. Phys. 231, 1051 (2012).
Scalings for Radiation from Plasma Bubbles, (A. G. R. Thomas), Phys. Plasmas 17, 056708 (2010).
Ionization Induced Trapping in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator (C. McGuffey, A. G. R. Thomas, W. Schumaker, T. Matsuoka, V. Chvykov, F. J. Dollar, G. Kalintchenko, V. Yanovsky, A. Maksimchuk, K. Krushelnick, V. Y. Bychenkov, I. V. Glazyrin and A. V. Karpeev), Phsy. Rev. Lett. 104, 025004 (2010).
Effect of Laser-Focusing Conditions on Propagation and Monoenergetic Electron Production in Laser-Wakefield Accelerators, (A. G. R. Thomas, Z. Najmudin, S. P. D. Mangles, C. D. Murphy, A. E. Dangor, C. Kamperidis, K. L. Lancaster, W. B. Mori, P. A. Norreys, W. Rozmus and K. Krushelnick), Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 095004 (2007).
