Ramping Up with High-Intensity Lasers
Apr 6, 2020 — In Europe, China, and the U.S., laser projects — either built or planned — are ramping up intensity, with systems now reaching peak power of 10 petawatts (PW), or 10 million billion watts. On the drawing boards are lasers that will crack 100 PW peak power, which is high enough to create matter and antimatter from empty space. Proving Einstein’s famous theory E = mc2 with lasers in this way will not be easy, but it appears doable, said Allen Weeks, director general of the ELI...