The physics of fast processes is a field of research studying phenomena that unfold over extremely short intervals of time (from microseconds down to femtoseconds). This branch of physics became especially prominent in the second half of the twentieth century, as advances in experimental technique made it possible to record and analyze ultra-brief events.
The History of the Field
The study of fast processes began in the 1940s in connection with the development of nuclear weapons and the need to investigate rapid nuclear reactions. A major breakthrough came in the 1960s with the invention of the laser, opening 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 twentieth century, scientists had learned to record femtosecond (10-15 s) and attosecond (10-18 s) events.
Main Areas of Research
The physics of fast processes spans several important scientific fields:
- Shock waves and detonation — the study of processes occurring during 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 physics of fast processes have come from:
- Yakov Borisovich Zel’dovich (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 foundational 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
- Gérard Mourou (b. 1944) and Donna Strickland (b. 1959) — winners of the 2018 Nobel Prize 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 processes has traditionally been carried out by 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 MEPhI Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies
The university is known for its development of recording instruments for the study of fast processes, including high-speed cameras, streak cameras, high-speed oscilloscopes, and other devices with high temporal resolution.
Contemporary Significance
By 2006, the year mentioned in the novel, the physics of fast 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 cutting edges of physics, where revolutionary discoveries capable of overturning our understanding of fundamental processes in the microworld remained possible.
The potential for a genuine "revolution in our understanding of fast processes" at that time was real — such discoveries might have involved controlling quantum states, new methods of generating and measuring ultra-short pulses, or fundamentally new approaches to studying fundamental interactions.