Fast ignition studies and magnetic field generation

Experiments, theory and simulation have been carried out to describe intense, relativistic short pulse laser interaction with dense plasmas. Magnetic fields of up to 0.7 GGauss have been measured through polarization measurements of high order laser harmonics. Simulation and analytic theory show that these fields are associated with photon momentum deposition. The same mechanism can cause weaker fields in the speckle of long pulse laser in underdense plasmas, leading to termination of SBS. Other magnetic fields in gas-filled hohlraums lead to steep temperature gradients in regions where linear transport fails. A Vlasov-Fokker-Planck code has been developed to study these effects more accurately. (author)