Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) pairs multidisciplinary science and engineering with world-class experimental and computing resources to develop solutions to the nation’s most pressing national security problems. Stockpile Stewardship Program researchers seek to understand the scientific details of nuclear weapon performance through nonnuclear tests and experimentally validated computer simulations. LLNL applies multidisciplinary science and engineering to achieve breakthroughs in counterterrorism and nonproliferation, defense and intelligence, domestic security and energy and environmental security.
Fellowship opportunities are available in:
Pulsed power science and engineering
LLNL researchers develop and execute pulsed-power experiments for a spectrum of national security and fundamental science applications. Facilities range from low-energy ultra-fast pulsers to the pulsed-power driver for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) – the world’s largest laser system. Livermore scientists also develop radiography systems for use in the nuclear weapons complex. These accelerators require advanced pulsed-power design and high-voltage engineering.
Radiation magneto-hydrodynamics/nuclear astrophysics
Livermore physicists use modeling, simulation and experiment to study astrophysics problems, including magnetic fields and turbulence in star formation and the slow nucleosynthesis process. They develop radiation magneto-hydrodynamics modeling and simulation tools. They also design NIF experiments to study element formation and astrophysical shocks and to tackle inertial confinement fusion (ICF) problems. Exploring these multiphysics problems helps us better understand the universe and also is relevant to stockpile stewardship.
Atomic physics and visible/UV/X-ray spectroscopy
Modeling complex ions helps us understand complicated plasmas, from stellar objects to ICF hohlraums. LLNL researchers write codes designed to run on upcoming exascale computers and capture information to address radiation opacity questions. They’re also developing techniques to precisely predict ICF hohlraum experiments, incorporating X-ray spectra calculations and gathering plasma condition data from tests.
Dynamic materials/shock physics
LLNL researchers focus on shock physics and the properties of dynamic materials under extreme conditions, including high pressures, temperatures and/or strains. They aim to integrate experiment and theory into predictive material-response models. Lab scientists probe how materials react to high pressures, the kinetics of phase transitions and plasticity, the dynamic response of heterogeneous media, architected structures, and additively manufactured material structure. LLNL researchers develop and apply techniques to investigate how materials evolve under dynamic loads.
Accelerator design
Particle accelerators are a fundamental tool for high-energy and nuclear physics, to understand star function and to create new elements. They also can be used in cancer radiotherapy, nondestructive evaluation, industrial processing and biomedical studies. LLNL’s flash X-ray accelerator is used as a radiography diagnostic for dynamic experiments. The lab is seeking engineers and physicists to design and build the next generation of accelerators for flash radiography.