High-Energy-Density Physics

Abstract

The raw numbers of high-energy-density physics are amazing: shock waves at hundreds of km/s (approaching a million km per hour), temperatures of millions of degrees, and pressures that exceed 100 million atmospheres. This book introduces the reader to the fundamental tools and discoveries of high-energy-density physics. It surveys the production of high-energy-density conditions, the fundamental plasma and hydrodynamic models that can describe them and the problem of scaling from the laboratory to the cosmos. Connections to astrophysics will be discussed throughout. The book is intended to support coursework in high-energy-density physics, to meet the needs of new researchers in this field, and also to serve as a useful reference on the fundamentals.