No abstract available

[en] Favorable features of the D-³He fuel cycle in a field-reversed configuration are described. Based on a theoretical analysis, one find that the estimated plant efficiency is more than 70 % and the 14 MeV neutron power fraction is as small as 1 %. To reach the D-³He ignition temperature of 100 keV with a reasonable external power source, one can first ignite a D-T configuration and then alter the fuel to D-³He. Heating of the plasma is attributed to energetic fusion charged particles and no additional heating is neccessary. The equilibria of D-³He ignited plasmas may be self-sustained due to the preferential trapping of fusion protons in a field-reversed configuration. (author)

[en] Under the influence of intense laser electrons begin to behave relativistically. Matter nonlinearly reacts to laser, exhibiting the relativistic nonlinearity'. Because of this property significant novel phenomena manifest themselves. By judiciously utilizing laser and matter, one can realize applications that cannot be accessed by the conventional technology before this. Compact laser acceleration is an example of this relativistic technique. A proper control of the wavefield generated during laser acceleration allows us to focus a counterpropagating another laser into a tiny spot, giving rise to a new method of compressing laser into super-strong intensity in the neighborhood of vacuum breakdown. We survey unique physical research opportunities that this new technique we call relativistic engineering can bring out. (author)

[en] A new phase of laser acceleration research has entered, as signified by the recent reports in Nature 9/30/05 of the generation of quasi-monoenergetic electron beam by laser wakefield acceleration in three experiments. We survey the current status of experiments and offer their theoretical interpretation. We understand why the choice of parameters is of such importance and why the earlier experiments showed energy spectra far from monoenergy. (author)

[en] This book contains the contributions of leading senior and younger scientists brought together by the desire to advance understanding of the nonlinear physical mechanism that places limits on the acceleration processes. The underlying hope that brings this particular group of physicists together is that through a better understanding of the limiting mechanisms, the foundation for a new generation of higher performance accelerators can be established. This report contains papers on the following general topics:nonlinear dynamics; nonlinear plasma effects and acceleration; and colliders and nonlinear dynamics. [LSP]

[en] Laser acceleration is based on the concept to marshal collective fields that may be induced by laser. In order to exceed the material breakdown field by a large factor, we employ the broken-down matter of plasma. While the generated wakefields resemble with the fields in conventional accelerators in their structure (at least qualitatively), it is their extreme accelerating fields that distinguish the laser wakefield from others, amounting to tiny emittance and compact accelerator. The current research largely falls on how to master the control of acceleration process in spatial and temporal scales several orders of magnitude smaller than the conventional method. The efforts over the last several years have come to a fruition of generating good beam properties with GeV energies on a table top, leading to many applications, such as ultrafast radiolysis, intraoperative radiation therapy, injection to X-ray free electron laser, and a candidate for future high energy accelerators. (author)

[en] It is shown that unlike a gas plasma or an electron plasma in a metal, an ionized clustered material ('cluster plasma') permits propagation below the plasma cut-off of electromagnetic (EM) waves whose phase velocity is close to but below the speed of light. This results from the excitation of a plasma oscillation mode (and/or polarization mode) through the cluster surface which does not exist in usual gaseous plasma. The existence of this new optical mode, cluster mode, is confirmed via numerical simulation. (author)

[en] A method to generate ultrahigh intense electromagnetic fields is suggested, based on the laser pulse compression, carrier frequency upshift, and focusing by a counterpropagating breaking plasma wave, relativistic flying parabolic mirror. This method allows us to achieve the quantum electrodynamics critical field (Schwinger limit) with present-day laser systems

[en] To develop a much more compact cancer diagnosis and therapeutic instrument using high intensity laser technology, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has successfully proposed this novel effort to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) program as the creation of a 'photo-medical industrial valley' base in 2007 fiscal year. In this report, a new laser techniques to drive controlled ion beams is described. It is very important approach to realize a laser-driven ion accelerator. (author)

[en] An ultrafast inner-shell ionization process with X-ray emission stimulated by high-intensity short-pulse X-ray is studied. Carbon and sodium atoms are treated as target matter. It is shown that atomic processes of the target determine the necessary X-ray intensity for X-ray laser emission as well as the features of X-ray laser such as wavelength and duration time. The intensity also depends on the density of initial atoms. Furthermore, we show that as the intensity of X-ray source becomes high, the multi-inner-shell ionization predominates, leading to the formation of hollow atoms. As the density of hollow atoms is increased by the pumping X-ray power, the emission of X-rays is not only of significance for high brightness X-ray measurement but also is good for X-ray lasing. New classes of experiments of pump X-ray probe and X-ray laser are suggested. (author)