X-ray radiation from matter in extreme conditions

Abstract

We study transient atomic and plasma processes in the new parameter regime of hot dense matter, produced by an intense ultrashort laser pulse. Specifically, we study the effects of extremely high fields on ion electronic structure. These high fields are achieved in either of two ways: (1) by the field of unscreened ion charges in a plasma (∼10 9 V/cm), which result in strongly coupled effects such as continuum lowering, line broadening and line-merging, or (2) by the high electromagnetic field of an intense laser (∼10 11 V/cm), which results in the formation of laser satellites around forbidden X-ray lines.