Advanced Radiation Theory Support Annual Report 2004

This report describes the work of the Radiation Hydrodynamics Branch during FY 2004 in support of the DTRA's PRS and Sandia National Laboratories high energy density programs. It is a compilation of articles that were co-authored by Branch members. The titles are: (1) Controlling uniformity of gas-puff and wire array implosions with wire current-carrying structures, (2) Two- and three-wire loads for large current machines, (3) Enhanced energy coupling and X-ray emission in Z-pinch plasma implosions, (4) Spectroscopic diagnosis of nested-wire-array dynamics and interpenetration at 7 MA, (5) Characterization of on-axis plasma heating for keV X-ray production with Z-pinches, (6) Interferometric measurement of physical phenomena during the implosion phase of a puff-on-puff Z-pinch load on Double-EAGLE, and (7) Design of a multilayer mirror monochromatic X-ray imager for the Z accelerator.