Superstrong Fields in Plasmas: Second International Conference on Superstrong Fields in Plasmas, Varenna, Italy, 27 August - 1 September 2001 (AIP Conference Proceedings)

Over the past few years, laser intensities have dramatically increased. Today, relatively compact laser systems can produce on target intensities four to five orders of magnitude greater than was previously possible. During this conference, the most recent theoretical and experimental advances in several fields of basic physics and of the relevant technological applications, made possible by the rapid development of such superstrong lasers, were presented and discussed. In the present volume the reader will find general and technical contributions on topics such as atomic and molecular dynamics in strong fields, high harmonic generation, coherent X-ray radiation, nonlinear plasma dynamics and relativistic optics, ultrarelativistic particle production and acceleration, inertial confinement fusion and fast ignition, laboratory astrophysics, high energy astrophysics and cosmology, applications of superstrong pulses to high energy physics.