Experimental astrophysics - Modeling astrophysical phenomena in the laboratory with intense lasers

Astrophysical research has traditionally been divided into observations and theoretical modeling or a combination of both, A component sometimes missi ng has been the ability to quantitatively test the observations and models in an experimental setting where the initial and final states are well char acterized. Intense lasers are now being used to recreate aspects of astroph ysical phenomena in the laboratory, allowing the creation of experimental t est beds where observations and models can be quantitatively compared with laboratory data. Experiments are under development at intense laser facilit ies to test and refine our understanding of phenomena such as supernovae, s upernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts, and giant planets.