Laser Absorption and Particle Acceleration at the Critical Surface

Using high intensity lasers ($I \ge 5 \times 10^{19} W/cm^2$) to accelerate particles at the critical surface offers the potential to deliver high fluence particle beams into dense matter. Potential applications include Fast Ignition Inertial Confinement Fusion, Radiation Pressure Acceleration, and probing high-density matter for basic plasma research. In order to tailor the beam characteristics of laser conversion efficiency, energy spectrum, beam divergence, and accelerated species (ions or electrons) to the given application -- and of course to interpret the results of experiments -- it is key to have an understanding of the underlying absorption and acceleration mechanisms. Much theoretical and simulation work has been done on this regime in recent years, and although it has become clear that mechanisms often invoked at lower intensities (i.e. JxB and Bruenel heating) are less or unimportant in these systems, debate still exists as to exactly what mechanisms will play the dominant role in laboratory relevant scenarios. We present recent results of simulations with the Particle-in-Cell code OSIRIS which sheds light on these issues.