Pulses of radiation short enough to probe the nucleus could be generated with existing technology, according to physicists in the US. Alexander Kaplan and Peter Shkolnikov have calculated that a high-power laser could make electrons emit powerful bursts of X-rays or gamma rays just zeptoseconds – 10-21 seconds – long. This ‘lasetron’ could also produce magnetic fields as intense as those found near white dwarf stars (A Kaplan and P Shkolnikov 2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 074801).
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