Things that can happen when you "kick" a solid

What happens when you shine a very short but intense pulse of light at a solid (a sort of optical kick)?  Usually, the answer is boring: the sample heats up momentarily.  In some cases, however, remarkable effects are seen, such as phase transitions into otherwise inaccessible phases, or the temporary formation of superconductivity.  In this talk, I will discuss some of these effects, as well as new dynamical phenomena that result from the suddenness of these phase transitions.