Exploring the universe through Discovery Science on the National Ignition Facility (NIF)*

Highlights from the NIF laser Discovery Science program will be presented. Examples include experiments on nuclear reactions relevant to stellar nucleosynthesis [1]; equations of state (EOS) at ultrahigh pressures (1-800 Mbar) relevant to planetary interiors and cores [2- 4] and white dwarf envelopes [5, 6]; radiative shock stabilized Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instabilities relevant to supernova remnants [7, 8]; long duration, ablation-front RT experiments [9, 10]; relativistically hot plasmas [11]; magnetic reconnection at high energy density (HED) conditions [12]; and high velocity, low density interpenetrating plasmas relevant to collisionless astrophysical shock formation and particle acceleration mechanisms [13]. 

[1] M. G. Johnson, PoP 24, 041407 (2017). 

[2] P. M. Celliers, Science 361, 677 (2018).

[3] R. F. Smith, Nat. Astron. 2, 452 (2018).

[4] A. Lazicki, Nature 589, 532 (2021).

[5] T. Döppner, PRL 121, 025001 (2018).

[6] A. L. Kritcher, Nature 584, 51 (2020).

[7] C. M. Huntington, PoP 18, 112703 (2011); ibid., PoP 25, 052118 (2018).

[8] C. C. Kuranz, Nat. Com. 9, 1564 (2018). 

[9] A. Casner, HEDP 17, 146 (2015).

[10] D. A. Martinez, PRL 114, 215004 (2015).

[11] G. J. Williams, PRE 101, 031201 (2020); ibid., PRE 103, L031201 (2021).

[12] W. Fox, PRL, submitted (2020).

[13] F. Fiuza, Nat. Phys. 16, 916 (2020).