Progress in Lasers and Laser Fusion

This volume contains a portion of the presentations given at the session on Laser-Fusion and Laser Develop­ ment of Orbis Scientiae II, held at the Center for Theoretical Studies, University of Miami, from January 20 through January 24, 1975. This second in the new series of meetings held at the CTS strove to implement the goals professed in the organization of Orbis Scientiae in 1974, namely to encourage scientists in several disci­ plines to exchange views, not only with colleagues who share similar research interests, but also to acquaint scientists in other fields with the leading ideas and current results in each area represented. Thus, an effort has been made to include papers in each session that discuss fundamental issues in a way which is com­ prehensible to scientists who are specialists in other areas. Also in keeping with the philosophy of Orbis Scientiae, the major topics each year are to be varied, with the invariant being the inclusion of developments in fundamental physics. The discussions of the current state of the art in lasers and fusion represented in this volume are not only of interest because they deal with newly unfolding branches of physics, but also because of their potential technological and societal significance. The paper by v. N. Lugovoi and A. M. Prokhorov was not presented at Orbis Scientiae II, but is included because of its relevance to the topics in this volume.