Ricerc@Sapienza

Our understanding of the dynamics of ion collisional energy loss in a plasma is still not complete, in part due to the difficulty and lack of high-quality experimental measurements. These measurements are crucial to benchmark existing models. Here, we show that such a measurement is possible using high-flux proton beams accelerated by high intensity short pulse lasers, where there is a high number of particles in a picosecond pulse, which is ideal for measurements in quickly expanding plasmas.

The design and interpretation of inertial confinement fusion and high energy density experiments
rely heavily on multi-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. Code main
output typically consists of sequences of maps of fluid and thermodynamic variables, which are
not easily compared with experimental observables. More direct comparison requires the development
of simulated, or synthetic, diagnostics, using the detailed plasma information available
in the fluid simulations. This has motivated the development of a set of simulated diagnostics