Theoretical Aspects of New Spectral Signatures and Strong X-ray Emission from Exotic Ions in Dense Plasmas

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The goal of this study is to improve understanding of atomic processes in dense plasmas. The newly developed knowledge and ability to better model atomic processes in dense plasmas will find broad applications both in astrophysics and in national security applications. This project will contribute to the development of dense plasma science and education of the next generation of undergraduate and graduate students. The award also supports continuation of the Radiation from High Energy Density Plasmas workshop series with a major focus on participation of students and post-doctoral researchers. This workshop series promotes extensive interactions between universities and national laboratories with a vision toward the future of the field. This project is jointly funded by the NSF Division of Physics, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and the National Nuclear Security Administration within the Department of Energy.During the last decade, with the substantial increase in laser pulse intensities and research programs at X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs), the observation of new spectral features that are attributed to x-ray emission from exotic states of matter have attracted a lot of attention. This has stimulated new experimental and theoretical studies of the spectral features of dense plasmas. The main objectives of this project are (1) theoretical development of the formalism and plasma/atomic non-local thermodynamic equilibrium modeling to adequately describe the emission spectra of KK hollow ions from low- and mid-atomic-number dense plasmas; (2) evaluation of the accuracy of the atomic data in the model by comparisons of the results from different atomic structure codes; (3) investigation of the role of the different configurations and atomic processes leading to the formation of KK hollow ions; and (4) identification of the possible new spectral features from exotic multiple-core-hole L-shell states in dense plasmas.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.