1 NNSA Perspective on Scientific Opportunities in High Energy Density Laboratory Plasma Physics Mike Donovan Acting Director, ICF Program August 25, 2008

2 Why does NNSA care about HEDLP? NNSA Interests:  Possessing validated predictive nuclear weapons codes Stockpile confidence Stockpile maintenance costs Without nuclear explosive tests  Understanding the science to build those codes Material properties Shock physics Equations of State Transport coefficients Collective effects in mixing...  High quality scientists in NNSA laboratories for classified and applied weapons work NNSA needs advances in fundamental and applied high energy density science

3 Why academic and private researchers?  Have an institutional focus on creative discovery science  Are independent of the NNSA methods and conclusions  Live in a world of open, vigorous peer review  Make NNSA laboratory scientists better by competing  Develop the knowledge to provide peer reviews to nuclear weapons scientists Some will become the next generation of lab scientists Lab and non-Lab researchers are complementary

4 NNSA agrees with HEDSA* positions Intermediate and small scale facility research provides the greatest benefit at this time Large facility research could be appealing in a collaborative mode in the future with the maturation of HEDLP Access to computational hardware and software would assist in the progress of this research The best proposals should be funded over a broad range of HEDLP topics *HEDSA: High Energy Density Science Association For academic and private research in the HEDLP Joint Program:

5 Examples of recent HEDLP research that is valuable to NNSA objectives

6 Precompression of materials extends the phase space that can be explored The Equation of State of compressed H and He are explored in R. Jeanloz (UCBerkeley) NLUF program These results are important to understand the interiors of the giant gas planets NNSA is interested in extending its understanding of materials properties under extreme conditions Diamond Anvil Cell Target Shock compression of He with different initial densities* * J. Eggert, PRL 100, (2008)

7 Dynamic properties of shocked crystals are important to NNSA’s mission M. A. Myers (UCSD) is PI for an NLUF grant to study dynamic materials properties – in collaboration with U.C. Davis, LLNL, Oxford, LANL, LLE

8 Multiview tomographic diagnostics are being developed on OMEGA R. Mancini (UNR), with LLNL and LLE, is developing tomographic diagnostics through NLUF This work promises further understanding of ICF implosions Reconstructed images

9 Monoenergetic proton radiography – a versatile diagnostic tool for ICF and HED experiments R. Petrasso et al. (MIT) is developing monoenergetic proton radiography on OMEGA with a NLUF grant Measurements of transient electromagnetic fields on OMEGA Charged particles from nuclear reactions probe the fields in a target

10 Cornell’s Pulsed-power-driven HED Laboratory Plasma Studies Center Mission Advance understanding of HED plasma physics Develop new HED diagnostics, e.g., X-ray backlighting, time-gated imaging, magnetic fields Be available as a user facility Help develop intense x-ray sources Investigate novel HED plasma configurations Train the next generation of HED scientists Cylindrical Wire Arrays Radial Wire Array Three of 4 X-pinch x-ray backlighter images (from a single wire-array z-pinch pulse), and a current trace with the x-ray signals showing X-pinch timing

11 Efficient X-ray conversion with wire-arrays is being studied on small Z-pinches ns Nested quadruple array V.V. Ivanov at al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, (2008) Star-like arrays produce powerful short x-ray pulses Star-like arrays have small shot-to-shot variations 3-ray star 8-ray star Implosion in star-like arrays cascades from wire to wire Star 16 / 12 / 8 / 6 mm, 12 x 12µm Results from star-like arrays from the Nevada Terawatt Facility (2 TW Z Pinch)

12 KEEN waves constitute a new form of plasma self-organization driven by optical mixing and detected on Trident 697 nm 600 nm He N 2 / H 2 Montgomery LANL CH

13 Summary NNSA needs advances in fundamental and applied high energy density science