Abstract not provided.

Recent scientific and technical advances have made it possible to create matter in the laboratory under conditions relevant to astrophysical systems such as supernovae and black holes. These advances will also benefit inertial confinement fusion research and the nation's nuclear weapon's program. The report describes the major research facilities on which such high energy density conditions can be achieved and lists a number of key scientific questions about high energy density physics that can be addressed by this research. Several recommendations are presented that would facilitate the development of a comprehensive strategy for realizing these research opportunities.

The book is based on a theoretical study of short-pulse laser interactions with solid targets and related phenomena. Relativistic electromagnetic code based on the Particle-in-Cell method is utilized to describe laser interaction with target and subsequent transport of fast charged particles in plasma. The code is one-dimensional in space and three-dimensional in velocity and it is improved here by incorporating ionization physics and revision of binary collisional algorithm. The theories of collisional ionization, electric field ionization and elastic collisions in plasma are reviewed and the computational algorithms based on these theories are described in details. The code is applied to study acceleration of electrons in the laser target interaction region, propagation of hot electron beam inside a cold dielectric target and acceleration of ions from the rear side of laser irradiated thin foils.

A Solid Compendium of Advanced Diagnostic and Simulation ToolsExploring the most exciting and topical areas in this field, Laser-Plasma Interactions focuses on the interaction of intense laser radiation with plasma. After discussing the basic theory of the interaction of intense electromagnetic radiation fields with matter, the book covers three ap

Pulsed lasers are available in the gas, liquid, and the solid state. These lasers are also enormously versatile in their output characteristics yielding emission from very large energy pulses to very high peak-power pulses. Pulsed lasers are equally versatile in their spectral characteristics. This volume includes an impressive array of current research on pulsed laser phenomena and applications. Laser Pulse Phenomena and Applications covers a wide range of topics from laser powered orbital launchers, and laser rocket engines, to laser-matter interactions, detector and sensor laser technology, laser ablation, and biological applications.

Directed Energy Weapons is nothing new to mankind, historically the origination of such weapons falls in centuries ago when first time the famous Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer Archimedes of Syracuse used different mirrors to collect sunbeams and focusing them on Romans fleet in order to destroy enemy ships with fire. This is known as the Archimedes Heat Ray. Archimedes may have used mirrors acting collectively as a parabolic reflector to burn ships attacking Syracuse. The device was used to focus sunlight onto approaching ships, causing them to catch fire. Of course the myth or reality of Archimedes Heat Ray still is a questionable story, but certain experiments with the help of a group of students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology was carried out with 127 one-foot (30 cm) square mirror tiles in October of 2005 that was focused on a mock-up wooden ship at a range of around 100 feet (30 m). The flames broke out on a patch of the ship, but only after the sky had been cloudless and the ship had remained stationary for around ten minutes. It was concluded the device was a feasible weapon under these conditions.

This book delves deeply into the real-world technologies behind the ‘directed energy weapons’ that many believe exist only within the confines of science fiction. On the contrary, directed energy weapons such as high energy lasers are very real, and this book provides a crash course in all the physical and mathematical concepts that make these weapons a reality. Written to serve both scientists researching the physical phenomena of laser effects, as well as engineers focusing on practical applications, the author provides worked examples demonstrating issues such as how to solve for heat diffusion equation for different boundary and initial conditions. Several sections are devoted to reviewing and dealing with solutions of diffusion equations utilizing the aid of the integral transform techniques. Ultimately this book examines the state-of-the-art in currently available high energy laser technologies, and suggests future directions for accelerating practical applications in the field.“br>/div

Next we investigate the development of ultra-intense laser-based sources of high energy ions, which is an important goal, with a variety of potential applications. One of the barriers to achieving this goal is the need to maximize the conversion efficiency from laser energy to ion energy. We apply a new approach to this problem, in which we use an evolutionary algorithm to optimize conversion efficiency by exploring variations of the target density profile with thousands of one-dimensional PIC simulations. We then compare this “optimal” target identified by the one-dimensional PIC simulations to more conventional choices, such as with an exponential scale length pre-plasma, with fully three-dimensional PIC simulations. The optimal target outperforms the conventional targets in terms of maximum ion energy by 20% and shows a significant enhancement of conversion efficiency to high energy ions. This target geometry enhances laser coupling to the electrons, while still allowing the laser to strongly reflect from an effectively thin target. These results underscore the potential of this statistics-driven approach for optimizing laser-plasma simulations and experiments. Finally, we present computational fluid dynamic simulations that model the formation of thin liquid targets. These simulations allow us to explore new types of targets that may be beneficial for high repetition rate laser plasma interactions.