Colliding laser-produced plasmas: a new tool for nuclear astrophysics studies

Laser-generated plasmas, formed when a high power pulsed laser is focused onto a solid target, have been used since the 1960s. At higher power densities (109-1010W/cm2), such non-equilibrium plasmas expand in vacuum with supersonic velocities. Hydrodynamic simulations and experimental data show that at the beginning of the expansion the plasma temperature may reach several hundreds of eV, while the density is in the order of 1016cm-3 or higher. Colliding laser-produced plasmas have constituted a largely unexplored and unexploited research domain until quite recent times, either for applications in materials or energy science. In this article, we propose the use of colliding laser-produced plasmas as an unique opportunity for nuclear astrophysics studies. We present a series of calculations about fusion reaction rates in laser-produced plasmas where the electron screening puzzle is taken into account. The numerical simulations have been carried out using the hydro code ZEUSMP2, while Monte Carlo codes have been used to simulate the fusion reaction rates according to the plume density and temperature evolution predicted by the simulations. We think that this type of investigation can be important in understanding the efficiency of nuclear reaction rates during the red giant phase of stellar evolution, as a significant part of the produced energy is dissipated in the low-density radiative envelope by shock waves.