Open AccessHigh energy-density science on the National Ignition Facility
Author(s) -
E. M. Campbell,
R. Cauble,
B. A. Remington
Publication year - 1997
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/622697
Subject(s) - national ignition facility , ignition system , shock (circulatory) , energy density , physics , laser , nuclear engineering , state of matter , plasma , shock wave , warm dense matter , engineering physics , degenerate energy levels , aerospace engineering , nuclear physics , mechanics , engineering , inertial confinement fusion , optics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics , medicine
The National Ignition Facility, as well as its French counterpart Le Laser Megajoule, have been designed to confront one of the most difficult and compelling problem in shock physics - the creation of a hot, compassed DT plasma surrounded and confined by cold, nearly degenerate DT fuel. At the same time, these laser facilities will present the shock physics community with unique tools for the study of high energy density matter at states unreachable by any other laboratory technique. Here we describe how these lasers can contribute to investigations of high energy density in the area of material properties and equations of state, extend present laboratory shock techniques such as high-speed jets to new regimes, and allow study of extreme conditions found in astrophysical phenomena