Will Fox, University of Maryland  Magnetized high-energy-density plasmas and plans for the UMD High Energy Plasma LaboratoryÂ
Laser heated plasmas are important for fusion, industry, and experiments on fundamental phenomena important in plasma astrophysics. I will present recent results on the generation and dynamics of magnetic fields in laser-plasmas plasmas. Magnetic fields are important for modifying the particle and heat transport in these plasmas, and for example mediate the generation of collisionless shocks. I will present results observing the self-generation of magnetic fields by the Biermann battery and Weibel instability processes, including the first tomographic 3-D reconstruction of magnetic fields in laser-solid interaction. Together these paint a picture that magnetic fields are ubiquitously self-generated in these plasmas and should be considered in transport modeling. Finally I will present plans for the UMD High Energy Plasma Laboratory, currently under construction, which will allow new experiments on all these phenomena. It will feature a frequency-doubled Nd:glass laser capable of delivering 35 J in 1.5 ns at 532 nm at a repetition rate of one shot per minute and with an arbitrary temporal waveform.  It will cooperate with a new 100-TW Ti:Sapphire laser in the neighboring Laboratory for Intense Laser-Matter Interactions for combined short- and long-pulse experiments such as radiography. We describe the status of the facility, plans for the initial diagnostic suite, and scoping studies of the first experiments. The diagnostics will include proton and electron radiography for electromagnetic field measurements, optical probing of plasma density via interferometry and angular filter refractometry, and kinetic measurements via Thomson scattering.  Initial experiments will study magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration, magnetic field generation by the Biermann battery and Weibel instabilities, and the Nernst effect and extended magnetohydrodynamics in laser-heated magnetized gas jets.