Extreme Matters, Pressure to Explore New Worlds, Exotic Solids, and Fusion Burning Plasma

A science revolution is underway with the discovery of thousands of planets outside of our solar system, the creation of revolutionary materials, and the potential for harnessing fusion energy. Unlocking these discoveries hinges on our ability to understand and manipulate matter to and beyond atomic pressures, conditions that alter the nature of atoms themselves. At such conditions our intuition for matter begins to breakdown, with hydrogen becoming metallic, water becoming superionic, and core electrons engaging to form chemical bonds at KeV energy scales. I will show how high energy lasers are enabling a new exploration into (1) the nature and implications of many recently discovered extrasolar planets-potential platforms for life throughout the universe, (2) a new generation of quantum materials, and (3) controlled thermonuclear fusion.