Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy: an introduction to the second edition
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences The Royal Society 379:2189 (2020) 20200028
Abstract:
Part II of this special edition contains the remaining eleven papers arising from a Hooke discussion meeting held in March 2020 devoted to exploring the current status of inertial confinement fusion research worldwide and its application to electrical power generation in the future, via the development of an international inertial fusion energy programme. It builds upon increased coordination within Europe over the past decade by researchers supported by the EUROFusion Enabling Research grants, as well as collaborations that have arisen naturally with some of America’s and Asia’s leading researchers’ both in the universities and national laboratories. The articles are devoted to informing an update to the European roadmap for an inertial fusion energy demonstration reactor, building upon the commonalities between the magnetic and inertial fusion communities’ approaches to fusion energy. A number of studies devoted to understanding the physics barriers to ignition on current facilities are then presented. The special issue concludes with four state of-the-art articles describing recent significant advances in fast ignition inertial fusion research.Whole-beam self-focusing in fusion-relevant plasma
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences Royal Society 379:2189 (2020) 20200159
Abstract:
Fast ignition inertial confinement fusion requires the production of a low-density channel in plasma with density scale-lengths of several hundred microns. The channel assists in the propagation of an ultra-intense laser pulse used to generate fast electrons which form a hot spot on the side of pre-compressed fusion fuel. We present a systematic characterisation of an expanding laser-produced plasma using optical interferometry, benchmarked against three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. Magnetic fields associated with channel formation are probed using proton radiography, and compared to magnetic field structures generated in fullscale particle-in-cell simulations. We present observations of long lived, straight channels produced by the Habara-Kodama-Tanaka (HKT) wholebeam self-focusing mechanism, overcoming a critical barrier on the path to realising fast ignition.First demonstration of ARC-accelerated proton beams at the National Ignition Facility (vol 26, 043110, 2019)
PHYSICS OF PLASMAS 27:12 (2020) ARTN 129901
Abstract:
© 2020 Author(s). In the original paper,1 two coauthors, M. Gatu Johnson and B. Lahmann, were erroneously omitted from the author list. The corrected author list is identical to that of this erratum, and repeated below for clarity.Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy: an introduction to the first special edition
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences The Royal Society 378 (2020) 20200006
Nonlinear wakefields and electron injection in cluster plasma
Physical Review Accelerators and Beams American Physical Society 23 (2020) 093501