Direct measurement of ion temperature in warm dense matter: surviving the entropy catastrophe in superheated gold

Abstract
I will present recent results on a new method that allows us, for the first time, to directly measure the ion temperature in warm dense matter and dense plasmas. The method builds on recent advances at MEC that leverage high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering. I will discuss its application to superheated gold, as recently reported in Nature, as well as ways to extend the technique to investigate electron–ion equilibration, bond-strength changes in excited lattices, and temperature measurements in dynamic diffraction experiments.

Bio
Bob Nagler is a Staff Scientist at LCLS at the Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument. His research focuses on probing Warm Dense Matter and Dense Plasmas using ultrafast x-ray techniques. He is a former Fulbright Fellow, Marie Curie Fellow, and was the 2012 recipient of the APS John Dawson award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research.