Using High Energy Density Plasmas for Nuclear Experiments Relevant to Nuclear Astrophysics

Thermonuclear reaction rates and nuclear processes have traditionally been explored by means of accelerator experiments, which are difficult to execute at conditions relevant to stellar or big bang nucleosynthesis. High energy density (HED) plasmas generated using lasers, e.g., such as the inertial confinement fusion platform, more closely mimic astrophysical environments in several ways, including with thermal distributions of reacting ions as opposed to mono-energetic ions impinging on a cold target; stellar-relevant plasma temperatures and densities; and neutron flux densities not found anywhere else on earth. The most extreme conditions in terms of plasma densities and neutron flux can currently be achieved at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser in the US, where densities of 10^3 g/cm^3 and neutron fluxes up to 5e27 neutrons/cm/s have been demonstrated over a time period of a few tens of picoseconds. Other HED facilities also offer capabilities to execute nuclear experiments in a plasma environment, and the HED platform is now emerging as an interesting complement to accelerator experiments.

This Research Topic will explore the potential of this new platform for helping addressing critical questions such as nuclear rates in plasmas, plasma effects on nuclear reactions, electron screening, and r-process nucleosynthesis, with emphasis placed on how accelerator and HED experiments can complement each other to generate answers. Broad interdisciplinary nuclear, plasma and astrophysical expertise will be required to tap the potential of this new line of research. The intent with this Research Topic is to advertise the platform’s capabilities to attract the necessary expertise to this emerging field, and to gather momentum behind the efforts to utilize these new capabilities to answer questions previously impossible to address in terrestrial experiments. Initial and previously published nuclear cross section and S-factor measurements using this platform will be reviewed to illustrate the potential, and the achievable conditions for studying hitherto inaccessible topics such as NEEC/NEET, electron screening, and r-process will be discussed.

This Research Topic aims to identify topics where the new platform can have a significant impact, as well as capability developments required to successfully address the questions raised. It is envisioned as a broad collection of articles covering review of initial accomplishments and proposed future research directions, original research, as well as platform and diagnostic development. Contributions are invited from nuclear and astrophysicists looking for new ways to address critical questions, as well as from plasma physicists in the trenches at the HED facilities.