This book is dedicated to the interaction with matter of high-power lasers, with intensities from 1010 to 1022 Wcm-2. The book is clearly written and is dedicated to the emerging field of high-power lasers with pressures comparable to those in collapsing cosmic objects, which exceed the pressures in the interior of stars. The book is a course for master students and has nine chapters – each chapter ending with problems, references and a guide for further reading. The first chapters are introductory: chapter one deals with hot matter produced by high-power lasers, while the single particle and fluid dynamics description of interactions of such lasers with matter are the subjects of chapters two and three. Chapter four focuses on hot matter in thermal equilibrium. The next four chapters deal with plasma waves, instabilities, transport mechanisms and radiation from hot matter. The last chapter is dedicated to applications, such as THz or X-ray radiation, control of nuclear fusion or ion acceleration. This is a very useful book for readers working in lasers and solid-state physics.
Review by Daniela Dragoman, full professor on the faculty of physics at the University of Bucharest, Romania.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA.