Multi-PetaWatt Laser-Plasma Interactions: A New Frontier in Physics

强激光脉冲与物质的相互作用通过产生极高的压力、温度和强电场和磁场开辟了物理学的新领域。这导致使用高功率激光辐射来探索热的致密物质的性质，产生高能粒子和辐射，并制定通过惯性约束聚变产生能量的计划。这些进步是由超短脉冲激光技术的快速发展推动的，超短脉冲激光技术使激光功率和强度达到了新的水平。随着多拍瓦功率激光器的出现（例如，联合王国中央激光设施的Vulcan激光器升级项目将在2013-2014年之前提供10拍瓦脉冲），可以获得具有独特性质的外来新等离子体，包括强相对论性稠密等离子体。该项目的主要目的是研究强相对论等离子体中激光-固体相互作用的基本原理-一种以前无法获得的激光-等离子体相互作用机制-并利用预测的有前途的新离子加速方案，该方案可通过高强度激光脉冲实现。这将促进我们对高强度激光固体相互作用的理解，并可能导致基于激光等离子体的粒子和辐射源的新应用。该提案涉及使用现有的一些最高功率激光系统开发和应用新的实验技术。

The interaction of intense laser pulses with matter is opening up new frontiers in physics via the production of extreme pressures, temperatures and intense electric and magnetic fields. This is leading to the use of high power laser radiation for exploring the properties of hot dense matter, the production of high energy particles and radiation, and the development of schemes to generate energy by inertial confinement fusion. These advances are driven by rapid developments in ultrashort pulse laser technology which have enabled new regimes in laser power and intensity to be reached. With the advent of multi-petawatt power lasers (e.g. the upgrade project to the Vulcan laser at the UK's Central Laser Facility will deliver 10 petawatt pulses by 2013-2014) exotic new plasmas with unique properties are accessible, including strongly relativistic dense plasma. The principal aims of this proposed project are to investigate the fundamentals of laser-solid interactions in strongly relativistic plasmas - a regime of laser-plasma interactions not previously accessible - and to harness predicted promising new ion acceleration schemes achievable with ultrahigh intensity laser pulses. This will advance our understanding of ultrahigh intensity laser solid interactions and may lead to new applications of laser-plasma-based particle and radiation sources. The proposal involves the development and application of new techniques on experiments using some of the highest power laser systems available.