Related papers: Extreme matter compression caused by radiation coo…
We report on the experimental studies of laser driven ion acceleration from double-layer target where a near-critical density target with a few-micron thickness is coated in front of a nanometer thin diamond-like carbon foil. A significant…
A forefront area of research concerns the exploration of the properties of hadronic matter under extreme conditions of temperature and density, and the determination of the equation of state--the relation between pressure, temperature and…
Warm dense matter (WDM)--an exotic, highly compressed state of matter between solid and plasma phases is of high current interest, in particular for astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion. For the latter, in particular the propagation…
Recently, laser cooling methods have been extended from atoms to molecules. The complex rotational and vibrational energy level structure of molecules makes laser cooling difficult, but these difficulties have been overcome and molecules…
Electron acceleration by relativistically intense laser beam propagating along a curved surface allows to split softly the accelerated electron bunch and the laser beam. The presence of a curved surface allows to switch an adiabatic…
The impact of a laser pulse on a highly absorbing liquid drop can lead to a violent response: the drop is accelerated, strongly deforms, and eventually fragments. Shock waves, the ejection of matter, and even plasma formation can accompany…
Using fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo simulations, the electron heating due to interaction with a moving sheath is demonstrated to dominate in surface wave-driven discharges at microwave frequencies and relatively low…
It is demonstrated experimentally that strongly-coupled plasma exhibits solid superheating. A 2D suspension of microspheres in dusty plasma, initially self-organized in a solid lattice, was heated and then cooled rapidly by turning laser…
It is shown that an ultrarelativistic shock with the Lorentz factor of order of tens or higher propagating in a moderately dense interstellar medium (density above $\sim 1000 $ cm$^{-3}$) undergoes a fast dramatic transformation into a…
We present evidence for strong radiative cooling in a pulsed-power-driven magnetic reconnection experiment. Two aluminum exploding wire arrays, driven by a 20 MA peak current, 300 ns rise time pulse from the Z machine (Sandia National…
Using the LCLS facility at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, we have observed X-ray scattering from iron compressed with laser driven shocks to Earth-core like pressures above 400GPa. The data shows shots where melting is incomplete…
We detail experimental results inferring ionization and temperature for warm dense copper plasmas at several times solid density (15 to 25 g/cm$^3$) and temperatures of 10 to 21 eV. Experiments performed at the OMEGA Laser Facility generate…
We present an experimental demonstration of high conversion efficiency Betatron x-ray radiation from petawatt laser irradiated near critical plasmas. Direct laser acceleration serves as the dominant regime when laser pulse of ~5e20 W/cm2…
The gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) of long duration are very likely to be connected to the death of massive stars. The gamma-ray emission is believed to come from energy released internally in a flow that moves at ultrarelativistic speed. The fast…
Interaction of ultera-short laser pulses with a dense cold plasma is investigated. Due to high density, of plasma, quantum effects such that Bohm potential and quantum pressure should be considered. The results reveal that electron density…
If taken into account, the transmission of the particle-scattering turbulence --in addition to just the particles-- through the shock front can change the effective compression ratio felt by the accelerating particles significantly from the…
We demonstrate laser-plasma acceleration of high charge electron beams to the ~10 MeV scale using ultrashort laser pulses with as little energy as 10 mJ. This result is made possible by an extremely dense and thin hydrogen gas jet. Total…
The effective increase of the critical density associated with the interaction of relativistically intense laser pulses with overcritical plasmas, known as self-induced transparency, is revisited for the case of circular polarization. A…
We present observations of wave steepening and signatures of shock formation during expansion of ultracold neutral plasmas formed with an initial density distribution that is centrally peaked and decays exponentially with distance. The…
Particles are accelerated to very high, non-thermal energies in space, solar, and astrophysical plasma environments. In cosmic ray physics, the "Hillas limit" is often used as a rough estimate (or the necessary condition) of the maximum…