The physics of fast-flowing processes is a field of science studying phenomena that unfold over extremely short intervals of time (from microseconds down to femtoseconds). This branch of physics became especially important in the second half of the 20th century, once advances in experimental technique made it possible to detect and analyze ultra-brief events.
The history of the field
The study of fast-flowing processes began in the 1940s, connected to the development of nuclear weapons and the need to study rapid nuclear reactions. A major breakthrough came in the 1960s with the invention of lasers, which opened up new possibilities for generating and measuring ultra-short pulses.
In the 1970s and '80s, advances in electronics and optics made it possible to study processes lasting nanoseconds (10-9 s) and picoseconds (10-12 s). By the end of the 20th century, scientists had learned to record femtosecond (10-15 s) and attosecond (10-18 s) events.
Main areas of research
The physics of fast-flowing processes spans several important scientific fields:
- Shock waves and detonation — the study of processes occurring in high-speed collisions and explosions
- Plasma physics — the study of fast processes in high-temperature plasma
- Laser physics — the generation and application of ultra-short laser pulses
- Femtochemistry — the study of chemical reactions on ultra-short timescales
- High-energy physics — the study of interactions between elementary particles
Notable scientists
Significant contributions to the development of the physics of fast-flowing processes were made by:
- Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich (1914-1987) — a Soviet physicist who developed the theory of detonation and shock waves
- Nikolai Gennadiyevich Basov (1922-2001) and Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (1916-2002) — Soviet physicists, Nobel laureates for fundamental work in quantum electronics
- Ahmed Zewail (1946-2016) — an Egyptian-American chemist who won the 1999 Nobel Prize for studying the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy
- Gerard Mourou (b. 1944) and Donna Strickland (b. 1959) — 2018 Nobel laureates for developing a method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses
Research at MEPhI
At the National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI," research in the physics of fast-flowing processes is traditionally the domain of Department No. 12, "Computer Systems and Technologies" (formerly known as the Department of Electronics). Also involved are:
- Department No. 11, "Experimental Methods of Nuclear Physics"
- Department No. 7, "Plasma Physics"
- The Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies at MEPhI
The university is known for developing recording instrumentation for studying fast-flowing processes, including high-speed cameras, streak cameras, high-speed oscilloscopes, and other devices with high time resolution.
Present-day significance
By 2006, the year referenced in the novel, the physics of fast-flowing processes had achieved impressive results, making it possible to observe and control phenomena on the femtosecond timescale. This field remained (and remains) one of the frontiers of physics, where revolutionary discoveries capable of upending our understanding of fundamental processes in the microworld are possible.
The potential for a "revolution in our understanding of fast-flowing processes" genuinely existed at that time — this could have meant discoveries related to controlling quantum states, new methods for generating and measuring ultra-short pulses, or fundamentally new approaches to studying fundamental interactions.