https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2014-02163-5
Review
Laser cosmology
1 Department of Physics and Graduate Institute of Astrophysics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
2 Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (LeCosPA), National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
3 Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
a e-mail: pisinchen@phys.ntu.edu.tw
Received: 13 March 2014
Revised: 24 March 2014
Published online: 4 June 2014
Recent years have witnessed tremendous progress in our understanding of the cosmos, which in turn points to even deeper questions to be further addressed. Concurrently the laser technology has undergone dramatic revolutions, providing exciting opportunity for science applications. History has shown that the symbiosis between direct observations and laboratory investigation is instrumental in the progress of astrophysics. We believe that this remains true in cosmology. Current frontier phenomena related to particle astrophysics and cosmology typically involve one or more of the following conditions: (1) extremely high energy events;(2) very high density, high temperature processes; (3) super strong field environments. Laboratory experiments using high intensity lasers can calibrate astrophysical observations, investigate underlying dynamics of astrophysical phenomena, and probe fundamental physics in extreme limits. In this article we give an overview of the exciting prospect of laser cosmology. In particular, we showcase its unique capability of investigating frontier cosmology issues such as cosmic accelerator and quantum gravity.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag, 2014
