Creating a Star in the Laboratory: The National Ignition Facility

Dr. Richard N. Boyd
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Darwin 103
4:00 PM

Dr. Richard N. Boyd of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will discuss the National Ignition Facility. Completed in 2009, it is the world‚Äôs largest laser. NIF plans to encourage programs in basic research, with nuclear astrophysics being part of that program. This presentation will describe the basic operation of NIF, as well as the motivation for and some details of several nuclear astrophysics experiments that might be conducted at NIF. Finally Dr. Boyd will discuss how NIF might impact the world‚Äôs energy future. [Available on DVD in the SSU library.]