Lecture Notes in Physics

VI Preface
protons, ions, and neutrons are accessible. Realistic ideas cover the production
of radioisotopes for medical purposes as well as for the investigation of
transmutation scenarios for long-lived radioactive nuclei for the nuclear fuel
cycle. Finally, the extreme energy density in the laser plasma in combination
with the large flux of high-energy particles offers also new possibilities for
fundamental nuclear science like the study of astrophysical problems in the
laboratory.
The scope of the book, as well as of the international workshop “Lasers
& Nuclei” held in Karlsruhe in September 2004, which stimulated the book,
is to bring together, for the first time, laser and nuclear scientists in order
to present the current status of their fields and open their minds for the
experimental and theoretical potentials, needs, and constraints of the new
interdisciplinary work. The book starts with an introduction to the theoretical
background of laser–matter interaction and overview reports on the state of
research and technology. In the second part, detailed reports on the state of
research in laser acceleration of particles and laser nuclear physics are given by
leading scientists of the field. The third part discusses potential applications
of these new joint activities reaching from laser-based production of isotopes,
the physics of nuclear reactors through neutron imaging techniques all the
way to fundamental physics in nuclear astrophysics and pure nuclear physics.
With its broad and interdisciplinary spectrum the book shall stimulate
thinking beyond the traditional paths and open the mind for the new activities
between laser and nuclear physics.
Jena and Karlsruhe Heinrich Schwoerer
February 2006 Joseph Magill
Burgard Beleites