• R. Bingham
  CCLRC/RAL/ASTeC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon

The development of intense laser and particle beams has opened up new opportunities to study high energy density astrophysical processes in the Laboratory. With even higher laser intensities possible in the near future vacuum polarization processes such as photon – photon scattering with or without large magnetic fields may also be experimentally observed. In this talk I will review the status of laboratory experiments using intense beans to investigate extreme astrophysical phenomena such as supernovae explosions, gamma x-ray bursts, ultra-high energy cosmic accelerators etc. Just as intense photon or electron beams can excite relativistic electron plasma waves or wakefields used in plasma acceleration, intense neutrino beams from type II supernovae can also excite wakefields or plasma waves. Other instabilities driven by intense beams relevant to perhaps x-ray bursts is the Weibel instability. Simulation results of extreme processes will also be presented.