ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the theory of the processes that determine the effectiveness of the action of a laser pulse upon a spherical target, including the acceleration of the target material, heating, and compression of the plasma. The theory of the heating and compression of the thermonuclear plasma, produced in the shell target, is given in this chapter, where the coefficient of conversion of the kinetic energy of the shell to the internal plasma energy is also determined. Further investigation of the physics of the corona and energy transfer into the plasma in laser target must account for the effect of density steepening under ponderomotive force action and the effect of its own radiation heat conductivity. The energy transfer by electron heat conduction from the thermonuclear plasma to the shell occurs even later, at moments close to the maximum target compression when the plasma has a high temperature.
