Steady advances in increasing the energy, power, and brightness of lasers and particle beams and advances in pulsed power systems have made possible the exploration of matter at extremely high energy density in the laboratory.  In particular, exciting new experimental regimes could be realized by fully exploiting the scientific capabilities of existing and planned Department of Energy facilities, as well as the relevant Department of Defense (DoD) and university facilities. Progress in the exploration of extreme states of matter has also been facilitated by advances in computer simulation and diagnostic techniques. Japan, China and the European Union also have aggressive programs in high energy density sciences.

Several recent National Academies of Science (NAS) reports have described the compelling scientific challenges and opportunities that exist across the field of high energy density physics (HEDP).  A recent interagency task force report has identified four research categories within the field of HEDP: astrophysics, high energy density nuclear physics, high energy density laboratory plasmas (HEDLP), and ultra-fast, ultra-intense laser science.  The interagency report found that stewardship of HEDLP should be improved and recommended that the NNSA and Department of Energy's Office of Science establish a joint program in HEDLP.

NNSA and the Department of Energy's Office of Science have now established a joint program in HEDLP.  Initially, this program is a combination of work that was funded as part of the NNSA’s Stewardship Science Academic Alliances Program in the research area of high energy density physics and the SC’s HEDLP Program and Innovative Confinement Concepts Program.   A solicitation for this new Joint Program was held in the Summer/Fall of 2008.