This is an Open Access textbook on non-cooperative Game Theory with 165 solved exercises

Deposition of maximum laser energy into a small, high-Z enclosure in a short laser pulse creates a hot environment. Such targets were recently included in an experimental campaign using the first four of the 192 beams of the National Ignition Facility [J.A. Paisner, E.M. Campbell, and W.J. Hogan, Fusion Technology 26, 755 (1994)], under construction at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. These targets demonstrate good laser coupling, reaching a radiation temperature of 340 eV. In addition, the Raman backscatter spectrum contains features consistent with Brillouin backscatter of Raman forward scatter [A.B. Langdon and D.E. Hinkel, Physical Review Letters 89, 015003 (2002)]. Also, NIF Early Light diagnostics indicate that 20% of the direct backscatter from these reduced-scale targets is in the polarization orthogonal to that of the incident light.

Fredericka Heller is an artist living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her first novel, Out of the Shadow, is based on her personal experience in Jungian dream therapy. Set in Santa Fe, the book is filled with local color as well as experiences in astrology, synchronicity and past lives, making the esoteric both credible and amusing. Out of the Shadow is the story of an artist, Jan, who falls in love with a composer, Neil. Gradually the romance fades and when her lover leaves with a younger woman, Jan is devastated. In an effort to comprehend the affair, she consults Byron, a psychic healer and Jungian therapist. During an adventurous trip to California, events in Jan's past flash through her mind her childhood with an eccentric mother, her life in New York as a young artist and past relationships. The interior drama is the compelling aspect of the story. Byron's uncanny insights into her dreams, as well as an understanding of events in her early life, lead her to a new perception of her self and the relationship. Although Out of the Shadow is primarily a woman's book, it deals with relationships and psychology that should appeal to a wide audience. Written from a layman's point of view, it reflects how therapy brings to light startling revelations from the unconscious and probes relationships that often mystify us.

The first experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) have employed the first four beams to measure propagation and laser backscattering losses in large ignition-size plasmas. Gas-filled targets between 2 mm and 7 mm length have been heated from one side by overlapping the focal spots of the four beams from one quad operated at 351 nm (3{omega}) with a total intensity of 2 x 10{sup 15} W cm{sup -2}. The targets were filled with 1 atm of CO{sub 2} producing of up to 7 mm long homogeneously heated plasmas with densities of n{sub e} = 6 x 10{sup 20} cm{sup -3} and temperatures of T{sub e} = 2 keV. The high energy in a NIF quad of beams of 16kJ, illuminating the target from one direction, creates unique conditions for the study of laser plasma interactions at scale lengths not previously accessible. The propagation through the large-scale plasma was measured with a gated x-ray imager that was filtered for 3.5 keV x rays. These data indicate that the beams interact with the full length of this ignition-scale plasma during the last {approx}1 ns of the experiment. During that time, the full aperture measurements of the stimulated Brillouin scattering and stimulated Raman scattering show scattering into the four focusing lenses of 6% for the smallest length ({approx}2 mm). increasing to 12% for {approx}7 mm. These results demonstrate the NIF experimental capabilities and further provide a benchmark for three-dimensional modeling of the laser-plasma interactions at ignition-size scale lengths.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a 192 beam laser facility presently under construction at LLNL. When completed NIF will be a 1.8 MJ, 500 TW ultraviolet laser system. Its missions are to obtain fusion ignition and to perform high energy density experiments in support of the US nuclear weapons stockpile. Four of the NIF beams have been commissioned to demonstrate laser performance and to commission the target area including target and beam alignment and laser timing. During this time, NIF demonstrated on a single beam basis that it will meet its performance goals and demonstrated its precision and flexibility for pulse shaping, pointing, timing and beam conditioning. It also performed four important experimental campaigns for Inertial Confinement Fusion and High Energy Density Science. Presently, the project is installing production hardware to complete the project in 2009 with the goal to begin ignition experiments in 2010. An integrated plan has been developed including the NIF operations, user equipment such as diagnostics and cryogenic target capability, and experiments and calculations to meet this goal. This talk will provide NIF status, the plan to complete NIF, and the path to ignition.

L'inesorabile avanzata delle armate del Signore Oscuro ha portato all'occupazione di quasi tutta Arasia. Solo un manipolo di eroici combattenti tiene ancora alto il vessillo della libertà. Flor-Hjan, Zhora, Go-Liah, Ma-Tek e Nemeris, che abbiamo conosciuto nel primo capitolo, si batteranno non lesinando di ricorrere a tutte le armi a disposizione. Molto cambierà, nelle persone e nelle alleanze, su Laxyra ogni cosa non sarà più la stessa...