Interaction between heavy-ion beams and hot dense plasmas

This review surveys current research concerning the interaction between heavy-ion beams and hot dense plasmas in connection with ion-driven inertial confinement fusion. Particular emphasis is given to stopping power and projectile charge state measurement currently performed at Tokyo Institute of Technology. For interaction experiments of 100 - 300 keV/u heavy ions with a laser-produced plasma target, it is shown that not only the energy loss but also the effective charge of projectiles in the plasma is larger than that in the cold equivalent. Attention is given also to the data describing stopping power of 6 MeV /u 56Fe projectiles in a thin z-pinch He plasma target, where we have identified the dependence of the stopping power in the plasma on the initial projectile charge states. Numerical results are compared with these experimental data. An experimental program regarding beam-plasma interaction research for the RIKEN high-energy heavy-ion facility is also briefly outlined. (author)