Laboratory astroparticle physics

Abstract:

Accurate modeling of heat flux in inertial confinement fusion plasmas requires closures that remain predictive far from local equilibrium and across disparate spatial and temporal resolutions. We develop a resolution-robust machine learning heat flux closure trained on particle-in-cell simulations using a Fourier neural operator. Two nonlocal electron thermal conduction models are trained and tested. When embedded self-consistently into the electron energy equation, the learned closure faithfully reproduces the temperature evolution and shows good temporal extrapolation and generalization capability. Remarkably, models trained on coarse-resolution data accurately predict heat flux when deployed in substantially finer-resolution implicit, iterative solvers of the energy equation, significantly enhancing the practicality of embedding data-driven closures into partial differential equation solvers. These results establish a data-driven closure that bridges kinetic and fluid descriptions and provides a viable pathway for treating machine learning as an iterative solver within the radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of inertial confinement fusion plasma.

Abstract:

<jats:p>We derive statistical distributions for the degrees of freedom in wave packet molecular dynamics models. Specifically, a theory is developed for the width distributions of Gaussian wave packets in both isotropic and anisotropic formulations. The resulting distribution functions show good agreement with molecular dynamics data under warm dense matter conditions, providing practical guidance for constraining the confining potential, an empirical parameter in the model. We also discuss how these distributions influence the resulting effective Coulomb interactions.</jats:p>

Abstract:

This roadmap presents the state-of-the-art, current challenges and near future developments anticipated in the thriving field of warm dense matter (WDM) physics. Originating from strongly coupled plasma physics, high pressure physics and high energy density science, the WDM physics community has recently taken a giant leap forward. This is due to spectacular developments in laser technology, diagnostic capabilities, and computer simulation techniques. Only in the last decade has it become possible to perform accurate enough simulations & experiments to truly verify theoretical results as well as to reliably design experiments based on predictions. Consequently, this roadmap discusses recent developments of and contemporary challenges for theoretical methods and experimental techniques needed to describe, create and diagnose WDM. A large part of this roadmap is dedicated to specific WDM systems and applications in astrophysics, inertial confinement fusion and novel material synthesis.

Abstract:

Oxygen and other light elements comprise up to 5 wt% of the Earth’s outer-core, and may significantly influence its physical properties and the operation of the geodynamo. Here we report in situ X-ray diffraction measurements of Fe, Fe + 4.5 FeO (atomic proportion), and Fe2O3 melts at 177-440 GPa, achieved using laser-driven shock compression at an x-ray free-electron laser. The melts exhibit Fe-O coordination numbers between 4.0(0.4) and 4.5(0.4), indicating predominantly four-fold coordination environments. These coordination states are significantly smaller than those of Fe-bearing lower-mantle phases such as bridgmanite and ferropericlase. Shorter Fe-Fe interatomic distances in compressed iron oxide melts drive the denser packing relative to ambient melts, while the structural differences between Fe + 4.5 FeO and Fe2O3 melts under shock indicate that the oxidation state modulates oxygen solubility in liquid Fe. At 177 GPa ( ~ 380 km below the core-mantle boundary) and 3800 K, Fe2O3 melts exhibit higher Fe-O coordination, suggesting that local variations in oxygen content could contribute to the stratification in the uppermost outer-core inferred from seismological and geomagnetic observations.