LASER DRIVEN NUCLEAR PHYSICS AT ELI-NP

The studies will be implemented predominantly in the E1 area of ELI-NP. However, many of them can be, in a first stage, performed in the E5 and/or E4 areas, where higher repetition laser pulses are available, while the harsh X-ray and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) environments are less damaging compared to E1.

High power lasers have proven being capable to produce high energy gamma-rays, charged particles and neutrons, and to induce all kinds of nuclear reactions. At ELI, the studies with high power lasers will enter for the first time into new domains of power and intensities: 10 PW and 10(23) W/cm(2). While the development of laser based radiation sources is the main focus at the ELI-Beamlines pillar of ELI, at ELI-NP the studies that will benefit from High Power. Laser System pulses will focus on Laser Driven Nuclear Physics (this TDR, acronym LDNP, associated to the E1 experimental area), High Field Physics and QED (associated to the E6 area) and fundamental research opened by the unique combination of the two 10 PW laser pulses with a gamma beam provided by the Gamma Beam System (associated to E7 area). The scientific case of the LDNP TDR encompasses studies of laser induced nuclear reactions, aiming for a better understanding of nuclear properties, of nuclear reaction rates in laser-plasmas, as well as on the development of radiation source characterization methods based on nuclear techniques. As an example of proposed studies: the promise of achieving solid-state density bunches of (very) heavy ions accelerated to about 10 MeV/nucleon through the RPA mechanism will be exploited to produce highly astrophysical relevant neutron rich nuclei around the N similar to 126 waiting point, using the sequential fission-fusion scheme, complementary to any other existing or planned method of producing radioactive nuclei.