In 1999, I introduced Warm Dense Matter to refer to states in which the electron temperature is comparable to the Fermi energy and the ion-ion interaction potential exceeds the ion kinetic energy. The physical properties of such states are governed by electron degeneracy, excited electronic states, and strong ion-ion correlation. Warm Dense Matter occupies an important region of the phase diagram as the transition state between solid and plasma. Since its introduction, Warm Dense Matter has emerged as a new frontier in condensed matter and plasma physics. It is also attracting growing interest in broad disciplines including matter under extreme conditions, high power laser ablation, inertial confinement fusion, shock wave, planetary physics and astrophysics. In this seminar, I will discuss the emergence of Warm Dense Matter, its role in shock physics exemplified by two equation-of-state experiments as well as its role in laser-matter interaction as demonstrated in the study of lattice stability and the discovery of a non-equilibrium high-energy-density solid phase under extreme conditions produced by fs-laser heating.

 

Andrew Ng obtained his B.Sc. degree in Physics & Mathematics from The University of Hong Kong, and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Plasma Physics from The University of Western Ontario in Canada. He was National Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta before joining the faculty of the Department of Physics at The University of British Columbia in 1980. Since then his research interest has been focused on laser-driven shock waves and femtosecond laser matter interaction for the investigation of high energy density states in a regime that he call Warm Dense Matter. In January 2003, he joined The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as Scientific Director of the Jupiter Laser Facility (JLF). With the successful establishment of JLF, he returned to UBC in September 2008 to continue his research as an Emeritus Professor. In 2000, he founded the International Workshop on Warm Dense Matter that has since been held in Canada (2000), Germany (2002), Canada (2005), France (2007), Japan (2009), U.S.A. (2011), France (2013), Japan (2015), and Canada (2017). Ng is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and an IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) Fellow. He is also the recipient of the 1997 IEEE NPSS (Nuclear & Plasma Science Society) Merit Award, the 2006 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Science & Technology Award, and the 2012 IEEE NPSS PSAC (Plasma Science & Application Committee) Award.