Numerical Modeling of Laser-Produced Plasmas

1973:

In an article titled “Numerical Modeling of Laser Produced Plasmas,” Edward Goldman, who headed the LLE theory effort at that time, published results on numerical modeling in Plasma Physics. Theoretical calculations showed the benefits of short-wavelength laser irradiation for laser-fusion targets. There was also an interest in the use of laser fusion for the production of fissile materials by one of LLE’s major sponsors, General Electric.

A paper based on DELTA experiments by Goldman, Soures, and Lubin on the “Saturation of Stimulated Backscattered Radiation in Laser Plasmas” was published in Physical Review Letters (PRL) in 1973.

E. B. Goldman “Numerical Modeling of Laser Produced Plasmas: The Dynamics and Neutron Production in Dense Spherically Symmetric Plasmas,” Plasma Phys. 15 289–310 (1973).

L. M. Goldman, J. Soures, and M. J. Lubin, “Saturation of Stimulated Backscattered Radiation in Laser Plasmas,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 31 (19), 1184–1187 (1973).

Shown here is the initial normalized density profile as a function of radius