What happens when a high-power laser weapon strikes human flesh? This is the topic addressed in a paper for the Air Force office of Scientific Research with the title, “Laser Induced Shock Waves and Vaporization in Biological Systems.” It’s all about computer modeling the effects of laser pulses:

In order to cause damage to the absorbing material, the electromagnetic energy of the laser pulse must be converted to thermo-mechanical energy. We have developed a computational model that allows the calculation of damage resulting from a laser pulse of any duration or energy due to temperature rise, explosive bubble formation, and shock wave production. We have discovered that the system exhibits chaotic dynamics….

We also discovered resonant effects in laser absorption and damage that allow the duration between pulses to be tuned to channel a greater or lesser fraction of the absorbed energy into shockfront and bubble production. This allows the delivery of large amounts of laser energy to produce strong thermal effects while suppressing unwanted pressure effects, or vice versa.

Via: Wired Blog