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Top 20 Most Cited Articles
The 20 most cited articles over time based on CrossRef data.
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Ignition and high gain with ultrapowerful lasers Phys. Plasmas 1, 1626 (1994); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.870664 (9 pages) | Cited 993 times
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Ultrahigh intensity lasers can potentially be used in conjunction with conventional fusion lasers to ignite inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsules with a total energy of a few tens of kilojoules of laser light, and can possibly lead to high gain with as little as 100 kJ. A scheme is proposed with three phases. First, a capsule is imploded as in the conventional approach to inertial fusion to assemble a high‐density fuel configuration. Second, a hole is bored through the capsule corona composed of ablated material, as the critical density is pushed close to the high‐density core of the capsule by the ponderomotive force associated with high‐intensity laser light. Finally, the fuel is ignited by suprathermal electrons, produced in the high‐intensity laser–plasma interactions, which then propagate from critical density to this high‐density core. This new scheme also drastically reduces the difficulty of the implosion, and thereby allows lower quality fabrication and less stringent beam quality and symmetry requirements from the implosion driver. The difficulty of the fusion scheme is transferred to the technological difficulty of producing the ultrahigh‐intensity laser and of transporting this energy to the fuel. |
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Phys. Plasmas 2, 3933 (1995); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.871025 (92 pages) | Cited 860 times
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Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is an approach to fusion that relies on the inertia of the fuel mass to provide confinement. To achieve conditions under which inertial confinement is sufficient for efficient thermonuclear burn, a capsule (generally a spherical shell) containing thermonuclear fuel is compressed in an implosion process to conditions of high density and temperature. ICF capsules rely on either electron conduction (direct drive) or x rays (indirect drive) for energy transport to drive an implosion. In direct drive, the laser beams (or charged particle beams) are aimed directly at a target. The laser energy is transferred to electrons by means of inverse bremsstrahlung or a variety of plasma collective processes. In indirect drive, the driver energy (from laser beams or ion beams) is first absorbed in a high‐Z enclosure (a hohlraum), which surrounds the capsule. The material heated by the driver emits x rays, which drive the capsule implosion. For optimally designed targets, 70%–80% of the driver energy can be converted to x rays. The optimal hohlraum geometry depends on the driver. Because of relaxed requirements on laser beam uniformity, and reduced sensitivity to hydrodynamic instabilities, the U.S. ICF Program has concentrated most of its effort since 1976 on the x‐ray or indirect‐drive approach to ICF. As a result of years of experiments and modeling, we are building an increasingly strong case for achieving ignition by indirect drive on the proposed National Ignition Facility (NIF). The ignition target requirements for hohlraum energetics, radiation symmetry, hydrodynamic instabilities and mix, laser plasma interaction, pulse shaping, and ignition requirements are all consistent with experiments. The NIF laser design, at 1.8 MJ and 500 TW, has the margin to cover uncertainties in the baseline ignition targets. In addition, data from the NIF will provide a solid database for ion‐beam‐driven hohlraums being considered for future energy applications. In this paper we analyze the requirements for indirect drive ICF and review the theoretical and experimental basis for these requirements. Although significant parts of the discussion apply to both direct and indirect drive, the principal focus is on indirect drive. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. |
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Laboratory observation of the dust‐acoustic wave mode Phys. Plasmas 2, 3563 (1995); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.871121 (3 pages) | Cited 559 times
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A laboratory observation of the dust‐acoustic instability is reported. The results are compared with available theories. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. |
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The physics basis for ignition using indirect-drive targets on the National Ignition Facility Phys. Plasmas 11, 339 (2004); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1578638 (153 pages) | Cited 503 times Online Publication Date: 20 January 2004
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The 1990 National Academy of Science final report of its review of the Inertial Confinement Fusion Program recommended completion of a series of target physics objectives on the 10-beam Nova laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as the highest-priority prerequisite for proceeding with construction of an ignition-scale laser facility, now called the National Ignition Facility (NIF). These objectives were chosen to demonstrate that there was sufficient understanding of the physics of ignition targets that the laser requirements for laboratory ignition could be accurately specified. This research on Nova, as well as additional research on the Omega laser at the University of Rochester, is the subject of this review. The objectives of the U.S. indirect-drive target physics program have been to experimentally demonstrate and predictively model hohlraum characteristics, as well as capsule performance in targets that have been scaled in key physics variables from NIF targets. To address the hohlraum and hydrodynamic constraints on indirect-drive ignition, the target physics program was divided into the Hohlraum and Laser–Plasma Physics (HLP) program and the Hydrodynamically Equivalent Physics (HEP) program. The HLP program addresses laser–plasma coupling, x-ray generation and transport, and the development of energy-efficient hohlraums that provide the appropriate spectral, temporal, and spatial x-ray drive. The HEP experiments address the issues of hydrodynamic instability and mix, as well as the effects of flux asymmetry on capsules that are scaled as closely as possible to ignition capsules (hydrodynamic equivalence). The HEP program also addresses other capsule physics issues associated with ignition, such as energy gain and energy loss to the fuel during implosion in the absence of alpha-particle deposition. The results from the Nova and Omega experiments approach the NIF requirements for most of the important ignition capsule parameters, including drive temperature, drive symmetry, and hydrodynamic instability. This paper starts with a review of the NIF target designs that have formed the motivation for the goals of the target physics program. Following that are theoretical and experimental results from Nova and Omega relevant to the requirements of those targets. Some elements of this work were covered in a 1995 review of indirect-drive [J. D. Lindl, “Development of the indirect-drive approach to inertial confinement fusion and the target physics basis for ignition and gain,” Phys. Plasmas 2, 3933 (1995)]. In order to present as complete a picture as possible of the research that has been carried out on indirect drive, key elements of that earlier review are also covered here, along with a review of work carried out since 1995. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. |
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Phys. Plasmas 7, 2076 (2000); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.874030 (7 pages) | Cited 426 times
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In recent Petawatt laser experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, several hundred joules of 1 μm laser light in 0.5–5.0-ps pulses with intensities up to 3×1020 W cm−2 were incident on solid targets and produced a strongly relativistic interaction. The energy content, spectra, and angular patterns of the photon, electron, and ion radiations have all been diagnosed in a number of ways, including several novel (to laser physics) nuclear activation techniques. About 40%–50% of the laser energy is converted to broadly beamed hot electrons. Their beam centroid direction varies from shot to shot, but the resulting bremsstrahlung beam has a consistent width. Extraordinarily luminous ion beams (primarily protons) almost precisely normal to the rear of various targets are seen—up to 3×1013 protons with kTion ∼ several MeV representing ∼6% of the laser energy. Ion energies up to at least 55 MeV are observed. The ions appear to originate from the rear target surfaces. The edge of the ion beam is very sharp, and collimation increases with ion energy. At the highest energies, a narrow feature appears in the ion spectra, and the apparent size of the emitting spot is smaller than the full back surface area. Any ion emission from the front of the targets is much less than from the rear and is not sharply beamed. The hot electrons generate a Debye sheath with electrostatic fields of order MV per micron, which apparently accelerate the ions. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. |
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Energetic proton generation in ultra-intense laser–solid interactions Phys. Plasmas 8, 542 (2001); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1333697 (8 pages) | Cited 425 times
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An explanation for the energetic ions observed in the PetaWatt experiments is presented. In solid target experiments with focused intensities exceeding 1020 W/cm2, high-energy electron generation, hard bremsstrahlung, and energetic protons have been observed on the backside of the target. In this report, an attempt is made to explain the physical process present that will explain the presence of these energetic protons, as well as explain the number, energy, and angular spread of the protons observed in experiment. In particular, we hypothesize that hot electrons produced on the front of the target are sent through to the back off the target, where they ionize the hydrogen layer there. These ions are then accelerated by the hot electron cloud, to tens of MeV energies in distances of order tens of μm, whereupon they end up being detected in the radiographic and spectrographic detectors. © 2001 American Institute of Physics |
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Comparisons and physics basis of tokamak transport models and turbulence simulations Phys. Plasmas 7, 969 (2000); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.873896 (15 pages) | Cited 393 times
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The predictions of gyrokinetic and gyrofluid simulations of ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) instability and turbulence in tokamak plasmas as well as some tokamak plasma thermal transport models, which have been widely used for predicting the performance of the proposed International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) tokamak [Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1996 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1997), Vol. 1, p. 3], are compared. These comparisons provide information on effects of differences in the physics content of the various models and on the fusion-relevant figures of merit of plasma performance predicted by the models. Many of the comparisons are undertaken for a simplified plasma model and geometry which is an idealization of the plasma conditions and geometry in a Doublet III-D [Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1986 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), Vol. 1, p. 159] high confinement (H-mode) experiment. Most of the models show good agreements in their predictions and assumptions for the linear growth rates and frequencies. There are some differences associated with different equilibria. However, there are significant differences in the transport levels between the models. The causes of some of the differences are examined in some detail, with particular attention to numerical convergence in the turbulence simulations (with respect to simulation mesh size, system size and, for particle-based simulations, the particle number). The implications for predictions of fusion plasma performance are also discussed. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. |
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A gyro-Landau-fluid transport model Phys. Plasmas 4, 2482 (1997); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.872228 (15 pages) | Cited 295 times
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A physically comprehensive and theoretically based transport model tuned to three-dimensional (3-D) ballooning mode gyrokinetic instabilities and gyrofluid nonlinear turbulence simulations is formulated with global and local magnetic shear stabilization and E×B rotational shear stabilization. Taking no fit coefficients from experiment, the model is tested against a large transport profile database with good agreement. This model is capable of describing enhanced core confinement transport barriers in negative central shear discharges based on rotational shear stabilization. The model is used to make ignition projections from relative gyroradius scaling discharges. © 1997 American Institute of Physics. |
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Tungsten wire-array Z-pinch experiments at 200 TW and 2 MJ Phys. Plasmas 5, 2105 (1998); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.872881 (7 pages) | Cited 292 times
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Here Z, a 60 TW/5 MJ electrical accelerator located at Sandia National Laboratories, has been used to implode tungsten wire-array Z pinches. These arrays consisted of large numbers of tungsten wires (120–300) with wire diameters of 7.5 to 15 μm placed in a symmetric cylindrical array. The experiments used array diameters ranging from 1.75 to 4 cm and lengths from 1 to 2 cm. A 2 cm long, 4 cm diam tungsten array consisting of 240, 7.5 μm diam wires (4.1 mg mass) achieved an x-ray power of ∼ 200 TW and an x-ray energy of nearly 2 MJ. Spectral data suggest an optically thick, Planckian-like radiator below 1000 eV. One surprising experimental result was the observation that the total radiated x-ray energies and x-ray powers were nearly independent of pinch length. These data are compared with two-dimensional radiation magnetohydrodynamic code calculations. © 1998 American Institute of Physics. |
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Phys. Plasmas 4, 3230 (1997); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.872465 (13 pages) | Cited 289 times
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A multi-species fluid model is described for the steady state parallel and radial force balance equations in axisymmetric tokamak plasmas. The bootstrap current, electrical resistivity, and particle and heat fluxes are evaluated in terms of the rotation velocities and friction and viscosity coefficients. A recent formulation of the neoclassical plasma viscosity for arbitrary shape and aspect ratio (including the unity aspect ratio limit), arbitrary collisionality, and orbit squeezing from strong radial electric fields is used to illustrate features of the model. The bootstrap current for the very low aspect ratio National Spherical Torus Experiment [J. Spitzer et al., Fusion Technol. 30, 1337 (1996)] is compared with other models; the largest differences occur near the plasma edge from treatment of the collisional contributions. The effects of orbit squeezing on bootstrap current, thermal and particle transport, and poloidal rotation are illustrated for an enhanced reverse shear plasma in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor [D. Meade and the TFTR Group, Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research, 1990 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1991), Vol. I, p. 9]. Multiple charge states of impurities are incorporated using the reduced ion charge state formalism for computational efficiency. Because the force balance equations allow for inclusion of external momentum and heat sources and sinks they can be used for general plasma rotation studies while retaining the multi-species neoclassical effects. © 1997 American Institute of Physics. |
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Phys. Plasmas 4, 1499 (1997); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.872367 (20 pages) | Cited 285 times
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One of the scientific success stories of fusion research over the past decade is the development of the E×B shear stabilization model to explain the formation of transport barriers in magnetic confinement devices. This model was originally developed to explain the transport barrier formed at the plasma edge in tokamaks after the L (low) to H (high) transition. This concept has the universality needed to explain the edge transport barriers seen in limiter and divertor tokamaks, stellarators, and mirror machines. More recently, this model has been applied to explain the further confinement improvement from H (high) mode to VH (very high) mode seen in some tokamaks, where the edge transport barrier becomes wider. Most recently, this paradigm has been applied to the core transport barriers formed in plasmas with negative or low magnetic shear in the plasma core. These examples of confinement improvement are of considerable physical interest; it is not often that a system self-organizes to a higher energy state with reduced turbulence and transport when an additional source of free energy is applied to it. The transport decrease that is associated with E×B velocity shear effects also has significant practical consequences for fusion research. The fundamental physics involved in transport reduction is the effect of E×B shear on the growth, radial extent, and phase correlation of turbulent eddies in the plasma. The same fundamental transport reduction process can be operational in various portions of the plasma because there are a number of ways to change the radial electric field Er. An important theme in this area is the synergistic effect of E×B velocity shear and magnetic shear. Although the E×B velocity shear appears to have an effect on broader classes of microturbulence, magnetic shear can mitigate some potentially harmful effects of E×B velocity shear and facilitate turbulence stabilization. Considerable experimental work has been done to test this picture of E×B velocity shear effects on turbulence; the experimental results are generally consistent with the basic theoretical models. © 1997 American Institute of Physics. |
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Flow shear induced fluctuation suppression in finite aspect ratio shaped tokamak plasma Phys. Plasmas 2, 1648 (1995); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.871313 (4 pages) | Cited 274 times
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The suppression of turbulence by the E×B flow shear and parallel flow shear is studied in an arbitrary shape finite aspect ratio tokamak plasma using the two point nonlinear analysis previously utilized in a high aspect ratio tokamak plasma [Phys. Plasmas 1, 2940 (1994)]. The result shows that only the E×B flow shear is responsible for the suppression of flute‐like fluctuations. This suppression occurs regardless of the plasma rotation direction and is, therefore, relevant for the very high (VH) mode plasma core as well as for the high (H) mode plasma edge. Experimentally observed in–out asymmetry of fluctuation reduction behavior can be addressed in the context of flux expansion and magnetic field pitch variation on a given flux surface. The adverse effect of neutral particles on confinement improvement is also discussed in the context of the charge exchange induced parallel momentum damping. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. |
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Phys. Plasmas 1, 2229 (1994); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.870934 (16 pages) | Cited 268 times
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The method of Hammett and Perkins [Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 3019 (1990)] to model Landau damping has been recently applied to the moments of the gyrokinetic equation with curvature drift by Waltz, Dominguez, and Hammett [Phys. Fluids B 4, 3138 (1992)]. The higher moments are truncated in terms of the lower moments (density, parallel velocity, and parallel and perpendicular pressure) by modeling the deviation from a perturbed Maxwellian to fit the kinetic response function at all values of the kinetic parameters: k∥vth/ω, b=(k⊥ρ)2/2, and ωD/ω. Here the resulting gyro‐Landau fluid equations are applied to the simulation of ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode turbulence in toroidal geometry using a novel three‐dimensional (3‐D) nonlinear ballooning mode representation. The representation is a Fourier transform of a field line following basis (ky′,kx′,z′) with periodicity in toroidal and poloidal angles. Particular emphasis is given to the role of nonlinearly generated n=0 (ky′ = 0, kx′ ≠ 0) ‘‘radial modes’’ in stabilizing the transport from the finite‐n ITG ballooning modes. Detailing the parametric dependence of toroidal ITG turbulence is a key result. |
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Electron temperature gradient driven turbulence Phys. Plasmas 7, 1904 (2000); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.874014 (7 pages) | Cited 263 times
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Collisionless electron-temperature-gradient-driven (ETG) turbulence in toroidal geometry is studied via nonlinear numerical simulations. To this aim, two massively parallel, fully gyrokinetic Vlasov codes are used, both including electromagnetic effects. Somewhat surprisingly, and unlike in the analogous case of ion-temperature-gradient-driven (ITG) turbulence, we find that the turbulent electron heat flux is significantly underpredicted by simple mixing length estimates in a certain parameter regime (ŝ ∼ 1, low α). This observation is directly linked to the presence of radially highly elongated vortices (“streamers”) which lead to very effective cross-field transport. The simulations therefore indicate that ETG turbulence is likely to be relevant to magnetic confinement fusion experiments. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. |
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Lattice waves in dust plasma crystals Phys. Plasmas 3, 3890 (1996); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.871577 (12 pages) | Cited 239 times
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Techniques previously known from solid state physics are used to look at linear and weak non‐linear wave propagation in dust lattices. These expansion techniques include only electrostatic interactions between neighbor particles in addition to assuming small vibrations in the dust lattice. As a simple model for the dust lattice, a one‐dimensional Bravais lattice is considered. For this particular lattice, expressions for the linear phase velocity are compared to a quasi‐particle simulation. The word quasi here means that only the dust particles are represented as diffuse objects, while the plasma is treated as a fluid. The simulation is also used to study the breakdown of the analytical theory and to investigate non‐linear dust lattice waves. A very good agreement is found between the analytical expressions and the particle simulations, for cases where the average dust separation a is of the order of or larger than the plasma Debye length λD. This is a condition which very often applies to dust crystal in laboratory experiments. Application of this wave theory is therefore discussed with respect to recent laboratory experiments where dust lattice waves are excited. © 1996 American Institute of Physics. |
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Beta limits in long-pulse tokamak discharges Phys. Plasmas 4, 1654 (1997); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.872270 (11 pages) | Cited 235 times
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The maximum normalized beta achieved in long-pulse tokamak discharges at low collisionality falls significantly below both that observed in short pulse discharges and that predicted by the ideal MHD theory. Recent long-pulse experiments, in particular those simulating the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) [M. Rosenbluth et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1995), Vol. 2, p. 517] scenarios with low collisionality νe∗, are often limited by low-m/n nonideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes. The effect of saturated MHD modes is a reduction of the confinement time by 10%–20%, depending on the island size and location, and can lead to a disruption. Recent theories on neoclassical destabilization of tearing modes, including the effects of a perturbed helical bootstrap current, are successful in explaining the qualitative behavior of the resistive modes and recent results are consistent with the size of the saturated islands. Also, a strong correlation is observed between the onset of these low-m/n modes with sawteeth, edge localized modes (ELM), or fishbone events, consistent with the seed island required by the theory. We will focus on a quantitative comparison between both the conventional resistive and neoclassical theories, and the experimental results of several machines, which have all observed these low-m/n nonideal modes. This enables us to single out the key issues in projecting the long-pulse beta limits of ITER-size tokamaks and also to discuss possible plasma control methods that can increase the soft β limit, decrease the seed perturbations, and/or diminish the effects on confinement. © 1997 American Institute of Physics. |
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Phys. Plasmas 6, 2834 (1999); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.873240 (6 pages) | Cited 225 times
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Expressions for the neoclassical resistivity and the bootstrap current coefficients in terms of aspect ratio and collisionality are widely used in simulating toroidal axisymmetric equilibria and transport evolution. The formulas used are in most cases based on works done 15–20 years ago, where the results have been obtained for large aspect ratio, small or very large collisionality, or with a reduced collision operator. The best expressions to date and to our knowledge are due to Hirshman [S. P. Hirshman, Phys. Fluids 31, 3150 (1988)] for arbitrary aspect ratio in the banana regime and Hinton–Hazeltine [F. L. Hinton and R. D. Hazeltine, Rev. Mod. Phys. 48, 239 (1976)] for large aspect ratio and arbitrary collisionality regime. A code solving the Fokker–Planck equation with the full collision operator and including the variation along the magnetic field line, coupled with the adjoint function formalism, has been used to calculate these coefficients in arbitrary equilibrium and collisionality regimes. The coefficients have been obtained for a wide variety of plasma and equilibrium parameters and a comprehensive set of formulas, which have been fitted to the code results within 5%, is proposed for evaluating the neoclassical conductivity and the bootstrap current coefficients. This extends previous works and also highlights inaccuracies in the previous formulas in this wide plasma parameter space. © 1999 American Institute of Physics. |
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Ion‐acoustic solitons in electron–positron–ion plasmas Phys. Plasmas 2, 716 (1995); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.871422 (4 pages) | Cited 207 times
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The ion‐acoustic solitons are investigated in three‐component plasmas, whose constituents are electrons, positrons, and singly charged ions. It is found that the presence of the positron component in such a multispecies plasma can result in reduction of the ion‐acoustic soliton amplitudes. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. |
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Design and modeling of ignition targets for the National Ignition Facility Phys. Plasmas 2, 2480 (1995); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.871209 (8 pages) | Cited 206 times
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Several targets are described that in simulations give yields of 1–30 MJ when indirectly driven by 0.9–2 MJ of 0.35 μm laser light. The article describes the targets, the modeling that was used to design them, and the modeling done to set specifications for the laser system in the proposed National Ignition Facility. Capsules with beryllium or polystyrene ablators are enclosed in gold hohlraums. All the designs utilize a cryogenic fuel layer; it is very difficult to achieve ignition at this scale with a noncryogenic capsule. It is necessary to use multiple bands of illumination in the hohlraum to achieve sufficiently uniform x‐ray irradiation, and to use a low‐Z gas fill in the hohlraum to reduce filling of the hohlraum with gold plasma. Critical issues are hohlraum design and optimization, Rayleigh–Taylor instability modeling, and laser–plasma interactions. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. |
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