Extreme Light Infrastructure
Encyclopedia
The Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) is a proposed high energy laser
research facility of the European Union
. The facility will host an exawatt-class (1018 watt) laser, that will enable scientists, through relativistic compression, to produce intensities of 1023 W/cm2. It would be so powerful it may disrupt the virtual particle
s that inhabit space, and explore dark energy
.
The project is currently in its preparatory phase (ELI-PP). The aim of the preparatory phase is to bring the project to the level of legal, organizational and financial maturity required to implement the project.
The competitors for hosting the facility were: the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Romania and United Kingdom.
On January 14, 2011 after months of silence on part of the new Hungarian government amidst the ongoing world economic crisis, Tamás Fellegi
Minister of National Development announcing the New Széchenyi Plan reassured the public that new government stands by the ELI project and provides its financial support.
On April 20, 2011, the project was "definitively and finally approved" by the signature of EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn
.
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
research facility of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The facility will host an exawatt-class (1018 watt) laser, that will enable scientists, through relativistic compression, to produce intensities of 1023 W/cm2. It would be so powerful it may disrupt the virtual particle
Virtual particle
In physics, a virtual particle is a particle that exists for a limited time and space. The energy and momentum of a virtual particle are uncertain according to the uncertainty principle...
s that inhabit space, and explore dark energy
Dark energy
In physical cosmology, astronomy and celestial mechanics, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Dark energy is the most accepted theory to explain recent observations that the universe appears to be expanding...
.
The project is currently in its preparatory phase (ELI-PP). The aim of the preparatory phase is to bring the project to the level of legal, organizational and financial maturity required to implement the project.
The competitors for hosting the facility were: the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Romania and United Kingdom.
History
At the meeting of the Steering Committee on October 1st 2009 in Prague, the ELI Preparatory Phase Consortium officially gave a mandate to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania to proceed towards the construction of ELI. Fully supported by the European Commission, the decision to implement ELI as a distributed infrastructure will lead to the construction by end 2015 of three facilities dedicated to three of the scientific pillars of the project (attosecond science in Hungary, beamline generation of secondary sources in the Czech Republic and laser-driven nuclear physics in Romania). The location of the fourth one – the ultra-high intensity pillar – will be decided in 2012.On January 14, 2011 after months of silence on part of the new Hungarian government amidst the ongoing world economic crisis, Tamás Fellegi
Tamás Fellegi
Tamás László Fellegi , Hungarian politician, jurist, political scientist, businessman. Since 2010 he is Minister of National Development in Viktor Orbán's government...
Minister of National Development announcing the New Széchenyi Plan reassured the public that new government stands by the ELI project and provides its financial support.
On April 20, 2011, the project was "definitively and finally approved" by the signature of EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Johannes Hahn
Johannes Hahn
Johannes Hahn, born on the 2 December 1957, is an Austrian politician and that country's member of the second Barroso Commission. He replaced as Austria's representative Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Hahn is a member of the Österreichische Volkspartei and the European People's Party...
.