Center Delivers New HED Science Courses

As part of efforts to expand educational opportunities in High Energy Density (HED) science, LLNL’s HED Science Center delivered an 11-week course regarding Extreme Physics for students from the University of California (UC) San Diego. Jeff Colvin, a physicist at LLNL and co-author of the textbook Extreme Physics, taught the class, which took place during Fall 2018.

Students who completed the course received college credit. They had the option to take the class in person at the Laboratory, or online, participating in live lectures via web conferencing or watching recorded lectures.

The HEDS Center also offered several short courses for faculty, students, and postdocs from collaborating institutions, as well as interested LLNL staff. Hui Chen, a Lab physicist, taught a class on HED plasma experiments and diagnostics. The course explored the basics of HED plasmas produced by energetic lasers, as well as the principles of several diagnostic instruments used to measure their properties.

Stefan Hau-Riege, associate division leader in LLNL’s Applied Physics organization, taught a class regarding the interaction of x-rays with matter. The short course covered the interaction of electrons with the x-ray field, the coupling of electrons to ions, and x-ray–induced microscopic and macroscopic changes in materials.

“Teaching a short course for students, postdocs, and staff was a wonderful opportunity to engage current and future researchers all over the world in the blossoming research field of high-intensity, x-ray–matter interaction,” said Hau-Riege.

The Center continues to expand course offerings. In Spring 2019, Riccardo Betti of the University of Rochester will teach a course entitled Introduction to Inertial Confinement Fusion. Other upcoming courses include one scheduled for Fall 2019, taught by Pierre Michel, a group leader at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF). Michel will lead a ten-lecture course regarding laser–plasma interactions for UC Berkeley students. In addition, Hau-Riege will prepare the curriculum for a new course that will be based on his updated book High-Intensity X-Rays—Interaction with Matter.