The most recent LaserLab newsletter is out. The newsletter is devoted to regularly presenting a set of articles dedicated to a hot topic where the laser contribution is invaluable. This issue is focused on the laser-driven exploration of the Universe.
This newsletter includes a feature on how lasers are exceptional tools to explore phenomena occurring in space, by EPP members Luis OS, Fábio C, and Thomas G, and the news of the ERC grant won by the GoLP alumni Frederico F. Also, the cover has been produced by our EPP member Thomas G.
The newsletter is available here >>.

Some of our EPP team members went to Spokane, Washington to attend the 64th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Plasma Physics, held on 17-21 October 2022, and presented a talk about their recent work.
In the picture: Dominika Mašlárová, Róbert Babjak, Bertrand Martinez, Thomas Grismayer, Pablo J. BilBao, Kevin Schoeffler and Rui Torres.
Here, some pictures from the event:

EuroHPC awarded 71 million core hours to the epp team to investigate compact plasma accelerators and light sources. A 37 million core-hours allocation on the LUMI supercomputer (Finland) was awarded to Jorge V. (co-PI Thales S.) to explore extreme acceleration and radiation in plasma accelerators. A 34 million core-hours allocation was awarded to Marija V. (co-PI Bertrand M.) for the project PARIS: Particle Acceleration and Radiation with Intense laser Systems.

On Friday, 10th of November at 11:30 am, there will be an IST Distinguished Lecture by Sergei Bulanov (FZU – Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences). The event will take place at Anfiteatro Abreu Faro – Complexo I at IST.
Title: Extreme Light–Matter Interaction through the Lenses of the Relativistic Flying Mirror Concept
Abstract: In his seminal paper published in 1905, A. Einstein used an example of the light reflection from the mirror moving with arbitrarily large velocity to illustrate basic principles of special theory of relativity. Nowadays the electromagnetic field intensification and the frequency upshift during the light reflection from the relativistic mirror are attractive for research on the development of sources of high-brightness radiation with tunable parameters required by various applications ranging from relatively moderate radiation intensity and ending with those devoted to quantum field theory. In this regard emerges a question on whether or not it is possible to prepare…

EPP team member Óscar Amaro went to Jeju Island in South Korea to attend the 2022 edition of the ICUIL IBS Conference on Ultrahigh Intensity Lasers, held on 18-23 September 2022, and deliver a talk. The work presented there consisted in recent developments of a simplified approach to theoretical modelling of electron-laser scattering experiments. The conference included, among other topics, progress in the commissioning of several high intensity laser facilities, some of which will begin user calls soon and run experiments to test strong field quantum electrodynamics.
More information about the conference here.

EPP team members Chiara Badiali, Bertrand Martinez and Mariana Moreira (all in the picture above) went to Isola d’Elba in Italy to attend the 2022 edition of the EuroNNAc Special Topics Workshop, held on 18-24 September 2022.
Bertrand M and Mariana M delivered talks, whereas Chiara B presented a poster about their recent work.

The EPP member Marija Vranic, is the winner of the 2022 International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Early Career Award for the Comission on Plasma Physics. The recognition is awarded for her contributions on the understanding of the interplay between classical and quantum effects in extreme ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions, on the underlying computational methods, and on the applications for plasma-based secondary sources of energetic particles. This is the first time an IUPAP prize is given to someone working in Portugal.
 

GoLP is organizing the 2023 Laser and Plasma Accelerator Workshop (LPAW’23) to be held March 6-10, 2023, in Lagos, Portugal. Stay tuned for more information coming soon here.

At the closing session of the 48th EPS Plasma Physics Conference (fully virtual), the posters of Rui Torres and Bernardo Malaca were announced as winners of the EPS-DPP best poster awards 2022. They received this award presenting the work with the title “General relativity particle-in-cell simulations of compact neutron star magnetospheres” and “Superradiance from superluminal nonlinear plasma wakefields”.

On June 14th, 2022, 9 am EDT (2 pm WET), our EPP member Marija Vranic will present at a Matter and Radiation at Extremes (MRE) webinar.
MRE is committed to publishing original and impactful research and review papers that address extreme states of matter and radiation, and the associated science and technology employed to produce and diagnose these conditions in the laboratory. Drivers, targets and diagnostics are included along with related numerical simulation and computational methods. It aims to provide a peer-reviewed platform for the international physics community and promote worldwide dissemination of the latest and impactful research in related fields.
For more information, and for the link to the webinar with the title Plasma in extreme fields: challenges and opportunities, which is free and open to the public, please click here.