A gamma-ray laser, or graser, is a hypothetical device that would produce coherent gamma rays, just as an ordinary laser produces coherent rays of visible light.[1] Potential applications for gamma-ray lasers include medical imaging, spacecraft propulsion, and cancer treatment.[2]
In his 2003 Nobel lecture, Vitaly Ginzburg cited the gamma-ray laser as one of the 30 most important problems in physics.[3]
The effort to construct a practical gamma-ray laser is interdisciplinary, encompassing quantum mechanics, nuclear and optical spectroscopy, chemistry, solid-state physics, and metallurgy—as well as the generation, moderation, and interaction of neutrons—and involves specialized knowledge and research in all these fields. The subject involves both basic science and engineering technology.[4]
- ^ Baldwin, G. C. (1979). "Bibliography of GRASER research". Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Report LA-7783-MS. doi:10.2172/6165356. OSTI 6165356.
- ^ Pittalwala, Iqbal (2019-12-05). "Gamma-ray laser moves a step closer to reality". University of California, Riverside. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
- ^ Ginzburg, V. L. (2003). "On superconductivity and superfluidity". The Nobel Prize in Physics 2003: 96–127.
- ^ Baldwin, G. C.; Solem, J. C.; Gol'danskii, V. I. (1981). "Approaches to the development of gamma-ray lasers". Reviews of Modern Physics. 53 (4): 687–744. Bibcode:1981RvMP...53..687B. doi:10.1103/revmodphys.53.687.