Lasers and Nuclei describes the generation of high-energy-particle radiation with high-intensity lasers and its application to nuclear science. A basic introduction to laser--matter interaction at high fields is complemented by detailed presentations of state of the art laser particle acceleration and elementary laser nuclear experiments. The text also discusses future applications of lasers in nuclear science, for example in nuclear astrophysics, isotope generation, nuclear fuel physics and proton and neutron imaging.
Fundamentals and Equipment.- The Nuclear Era of Laser Interactions: New
Milestones in the History of Power Compression.- High-Intensity LaserMatter
Interaction.- Laser-Triggered Nuclear Reactions.- POLARIS: An All
Diode-Pumped Ultrahigh Peak Power Laser for High Repetition Rates.- The
Megajoule Laser A High-Energy-Density Physics Facility.- Sources.- Electron
and Proton Beams Produced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses.- Laser-Driven Ion
Acceleration and Nuclear Activation.- Pulsed Neutron Sources with Tabletop
Laser-Accelerated Protons.- Transmutation.- Laser Transmutation of Nuclear
Materials.- High-brightness ?-Ray Generation for Nuclear Transmutation.-
Potential Role of Lasers for Sustainable Fission Energy Production and
Transmutation of Nuclear Waste.- High-Power Laser Production of PET
Isotopes.- Nuclear Science.- Nuclear Physics with High-Intensity Lasers.-
Nuclear Physics with Laser Compton ?-Rays.- Status of Neutron Imaging.
