Future NIF Experiments
Unparalleled opportunities to explore the frontiers of basic science became available to researchers when the National Ignition Facility (NIF) began full-scale experiments in 2010. A significant percentage of the first NIF shots will be devoted to experimental science under the extremely high temperatures, pressures, and densities that only NIF can create in a laboratory setting.
Basic research in areas such as astrophysics, planetary physics, hydrodynamics, nonlinear optical physics, materials science and inertial confinement fusion will help scientists better understand the universe and can lead to technological advances. NIF will also serve as a recruiting tool and training ground for attracting and training outstanding young scientists.
NIF's first basic science studies will focus on re-creating the properties of celestial objects – such as stars, giant planets and supernovae – in scaled laboratory experiments. With 192 beams delivering up to two megajoules of ultraviolet energy, NIF will enable scientists to explore some of the most extreme conditions in the universe.
Here are links to more detailed information on NIF's basic science programs:
Laboratory Astrophysics
NIF will enable the study of the nuclear reactions that power the stars and create the elements during the different stages of stellar evolution, as well as of the processes that create neutron stars, black holes, andsupernovae.