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NSF OPAL
OPAL-Icy-Planet-Cores

Frontier Science

Laboratory Astrophysics and Planetary Physics (LAPP)

Summary

LAPP explores the physics of extreme pressures and temperatures that exist deep within stars and planets. OPAL’s laser systems will replicate these extreme conditions in the lab, helping scientists study exotic states of matter, such as warm dense plasmas and solid hydrogen at high pressures. This research could unlock answers to longstanding questions about planetary formation and the behavior of matter in extreme environments.

LAPP proposed one flagship experiment: Ultrafast laboratory astrophysics and planetary physics (LAPP1). The NSF OPAL RI-1 project includes LAPP1 as a flagship experiment.

Science Mission

 

  • Recreate unique states of matter similar to those found in planets and stars to help us understand how celestial bodies form and evolve.
  • Explore quantum behavior by observing and controlling particles at the smallest scales, advancing our understanding of fundamental physics.
  • Create new states of matter and new materials with extraordinary properties, leading to advanced technologies in sensing, computing, and communication.

Meet the LAPP Team

Read more about the PIs and meet the Project Team.

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Eva Zurek
Co-Principal Investigator
University at Buffalo, CMAP PFC
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Danae Polsin
Senior Personnel
University of Rochester

FLAGSHIP EXPERIMENT

Ultrafast Laboratory Astrophysics and Planetary Physics

The LAPP Community seeks to combine three cutting-edge capabilities offered by NSF OPAL: dynamic compression, impulsive heating, and ultrafast probing.

Three stages of experiments lead to the flagship experiment:

  1. NSF OPAL Alpha short-pulse laser beams will operate at 1ω and 2ω to create laser-produced relativistic pair plasmas in a new intensity regime.
  2. Dense plasma spectroscopy experiments will be performed where the NSF OPAL Alpha laser beams and secondary sources will be used to isochorically heat shock- and ramp-compressed targets to explore a wide range of temperatures and densities using high-resolution x-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy.
  3. The OMEGA EP long-pulse UV beams will ramp-compress planetary materials (ex. SiO2, H2O, Fe) to the extreme conditions found inside the cores of planets.

This staged approach will lead to the flagship capability to shock and ramp-compress these planetary materials to terapascal pressures and use the femtosecond PW beams to create ultrafast probes for time-resolved x-ray and electron diffraction, radiography/phase contrast imaging, and x-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy to identify structural and electronic phase transitions and unravel their nonequilibrium dynamics.

These experiments will answer key questions spanning the existence of exotic low temperature quantum phases to the high-temperature plasma opacity of stellar components at high-energy-density conditions.

Learn More

NSF OPAL Flagship Experiment Selection Report

Read