Synchrotron Radiation: An Everyday Application of Special Relativity

Rubensson, Jan-Erik: - The author is physics professor at Uppsala University. Most of his research is based on spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation, and especially, he has been engaged in method development related to resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS). The new synchrotrons allow for substantial refinement of RIXS techniques, which promises progress in fields ranging from fundamental atomic and molecular physics, over electrochemistry and pharmaceutics, to magnetism and correlated-electron systems. Several advanced RIXS facilities are presently being built at the new synchrotrons, and the author is spokesperson for the VERITAS beamline at the MAX IV laboratory. In addition, the author investigates the prospects of time-resolved and non-linear inelastic x-ray scattering at free-electron lasers. His scientific focus is on ultrafast electron dynamics in free molecules, and the coupling between, spin, orbital, and nuclear degrees of freedom in general. The author is teaching basic mechanics and optics on the bachelor level at Uppsala University, and he has the responsibility for the master-level course in synchrotron radiation.