High-Power Laser-Plasma Interaction

The field of high-power laser-plasma interaction has grown in the last few decades, with applications ranging from laser-driven fusion and laser acceleration of charged particles to laser ablation of materials. This comprehensive text covers fundamental concepts including electromagnetics and electrostatic waves, parameter instabilities, laser driven fusion,charged particle acceleration and gamma rays. Two important techniques of laser proton interactions including target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) and radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) are discussed in detail, along with their applications in the field of medicine. An analytical framework is developed for laser beat-wave and wakefield excitation of plasma waves and subsequent acceleration of electrons. The book covers parametric oscillator model and studies the coupling of laser light with collective modes.

Author Biography

C. S. Liu is a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS)6, a former head of the Physics and Astronomy Department at University of Maryland, College Park, and has held directed and advised on plasma physics research throughout his distinguished career. V. K. Tripathi is Honorary Professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He did his Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and in 1976, moved to University of Maryland, College Park and worked for six years in thermonuclear fusion, developing nonlinear theories of RF heating and current drive in tokamak. He has taught courses including electrodynamics, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, plasma physics, laser physics and high-power laser plasma interaction at undergraduate and graduate level. He has visited institutes such as University of Maryland, Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Germany, Tsinghua University, China, National Central University, Taiwan and University of Macau. Bengt Eliasson is a reader in the Department of Physics at the University of Strathclyde. His current research includes theory and simulation of waves and nonlinear structures plasmas, relativistic laser-plasma interactions, ionospheric physics and radio wave propagation. He has published more than 200 papers in journals of international repute. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.