The Science and Applications of Ultrafast, Ultraintense Lasers: Opportunities in science and technology using the brightest light known to man; A report on the SAUUL workshop, held in Washington DC, June 17-19, 2002

71, [1] pages. Maps. Illustrations (some with color). This report is the result of a workshop held during June 17-19, 2002 in Washington, DC where many of the leaders in the field met to assess the scientific opportunities presented by research with ultrafast pulse, ultrhigh intensity lasers. This workshop and report were supported by the Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Science, the Office of Fusion Energy Science, the National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Defense Programs, and the National Science Foundation Division of Physics. The workshop highlighted many exciting research areas using ultrahigh intensity lasers, ranging from plasma physics to fusion energy to astrophysics to ultrafast chemistry to structural biology. Recent progress in high intensity laser technology had made possible applications with light pulses unimaginable only a decade previously. Spectacular advances were ow possible with the newest generation of petawatt lasers and unprecedented temporal structure. The central finding of the workshop and this report was that ultra-high intensity laser research offered a wide range of exciting opportunities and that the continued growth and international leadership of the USA in this filed should be aggressively maintained. The report proposed that a network of institutions devoted to research in Ultrafast, Ultraintense Laser science be organized, funded by both the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.…