Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The Physical and Life Sciences Directorate (PLS) Directorate supports the Laboratory's scientific, technological, and programmatic missions in physics. The PLS Physics Division maintains expertise in a wide variety of scientific disciplines and advanced technologies to fulfill this need.

The PLS Physics Division maintains expertise in a wide variety of scientific disciplines and advanced technologies to fulfill this need that overlap with the following core competencies:

  • Plasma and atomic physics
  • High Energy Density sciences
  • Nuclear and particle physics
  • Accelerator science
  • Particle beam physics
  • Optical and imaging science
  • Radiation detection
  • Astrophysics

These core competencies are important for supporting the major LLNL programs in WCI, NIF, and GS as well as Office of Science programs and WFO programs and projects where PLS staff members are principal investigators.

The Physics Division is also actively engaged in broad set of R&D partnerships with academic institutions, other national laboratories and high-tech industrial organizations. These partnerships range from individual collaborations with faculty, postdoctoral scientists and students, to formal partnerships such as NSF science and technology centers, and cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) with industrial partners.

The future direction of the PLS physics research incorporates the national needs within the Laboratory’s science, technology and the national security agenda. The Physics Division oversees a vast majority of the physics work within PLS especially in the following four primary areas:

Scientific Frontiers

High Energy Density Sciences

Our Lawrence Livermore Collaborators