Disparate Regimes of Non-Ideal Plasmas: Connecting the Physics of Ultracold and Hot, Dense Plasmas

Lasers can be used to make both the coldest and the hottest laboratory plasmas. Ultracold neutral plasmas are created by laser cooling a dilute gas that is subsequently photoionized. Because of the extremely low temperature, such ultra cold plasmas are nonideal. In contrast, lasers can also be used to create hot plasmas at densities that exceed solid density, as in inertial confinement fusion experiments. In this talk, I will explore the similarities and differences of these two seemingly disparate plasmas with the goal of discovering where there are physical processes of common interest to both communities.