Hamburg 2009 – scientific programme
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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung
AGA 3: Military-relevant R&D and New Technologies
AGA 3.3: Talk
Thursday, March 5, 2009, 12:00–12:30, VMP 9 HS
New developments in laser technology and the assessment of their implications for international politics — •Jan Stupl1, Claus Emmelmann2, Götz Neuneck3, and Hartwig Spitzer4 — 1Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University — 2Institut für Laser- und Anlagensystemtechnik (iLAS), TU-Harburg — 3Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik an der Universität Hamburg (IFSH) — 4Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Hamburg
Recent developments in laser technology, like the advent of high power fibre lasers and chemical lasers, open up new possible weapon applications for laser technology. This has implications for international politics. In order to assess these implications, a science-based understanding of the technical capabilities is a prerequisite.
In its first part, this paper will introduce recent developments in laser technology. The second part will present a method which was developed to assess possible laser applications and their consequences. This method includes the beam propagation including atmospheric effects, the calculation of temperature fields in radiated objects and the calculation of the induced thermal stress field. The last part of the talk will present the application of the devised method using case studies in the realm of international security.