Andreas Klein

Detailed high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of OMEGA separated reactants inertial confinement fusion experiments

We present results from the comparison of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) simulations with data from the implosions of inertial confinement fusion capsules with separated reactants performed on the OMEGA laser facility. Each capsule, referred to as a “CD Mixcap,” is filled with tritium and has a polystyrene (CH) shell with a deuterated polystyrene (CD) layer whose burial depth is varied. In these implosions, fusion reactions between deuterium and tritium ions can occur only in the presence of atomic mix between the gas fill and shell material. The simulations feature accurate models for all known experimental asymmetries and do not employ any adjustable parameters to improve agreement with experimental data. Simulations are performed with the RAGE radiation-hydrodynamics code using an Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) strategy for the hydrodynamics. We obtain good agreement with the experimental data, including the DT/TT neutron yield ratios used to diagnose mix, for all burial depths of the deuterated shell layer. Additionally, simulations demonstrate good agreement with converged simulations employing explicit models for plasma diffusion and viscosity, suggesting that the implicit sub-grid model used in ILES is sufficient to model these processes in these experiments. In our simulations, mixing is driven by short-wavelength asymmetries and longer-wavelength features are responsible for developing flows that transport mixed material towards the center of the hot spot. Mix material transported by this process is responsible for most of the mix (DT) yield even for the capsule with a CD layer adjacent to the tritium fuel. Consistent with our previous results, mix does not play a significant role in TT neutron yield degradation; instead, this is dominated by the displacement of fuel from the center of the implosion due to the development of turbulent instabilities seeded by long-wavelength asymmetries. Through these processes, the long-wavelength asymmetries degrade TT yield more than the DT yield and thus bring DT/TT neutron yield ratios into agreement with experiment. Finally, we present a detailed comparison of the flows in 2D and 3D simulations.

Neutron Beam Effects on Spin-Exchange-Polarized 3He

We have observed depolarization effects when high intensity cold neutron beams are incident on alkali-metal spin-exchange-polarized 3He cells used as neutron spin filters. This was first observed as a reduction of the maximum attainable 3He polarization and was attributed to a decrease of alkali-metal polarization, which led us to directly measure alkali-metal polarization and spin relaxation over a range of neutron fluxes at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center and Institute Laue-Langevin. The data reveal a new alkali-metal spin-relaxation mechanism that approximately scales as sqrt[phi_{n}], where phi_{n} is the neutron capture-flux density incident on the cell. This is consistent with an effect proportional to the concentration of electron-ion pairs but is much larger than expected from earlier work.

Reaction-in-flight neutrons as a test of stopping power in degenerate plasmas

We present the first measurements of reaction-in-flight (RIF) neutrons in an inertial confinement fusion system. The experiments were carried out at the National Ignition Facility, using both Low Foot and High Foot drives and cryogenic plastic capsules. In both cases, the high-energy RIF ( En> 15u2009MeV) component of the neutron spectrum was found to be about 10−4 of the total. The majority of the RIF neutrons were produced in the dense cold fuel surrounding the burning hotspot of the capsule, and the data are consistent with a compressed cold fuel that is moderately to strongly coupled (Γ∼ 0.6) and electron degenerate (θFermi/θe∼ 4). The production of RIF neutrons is controlled by the stopping power in the plasma. Thus, the current RIF measurements provide a unique test of stopping power models in an experimentally unexplored plasma regime. We find that the measured RIF data strongly constrain stopping models in warm dense plasma conditions, and some models are ruled out by our analysis of these experiments.

Measurement of reaction-in-flight neutrons using thulium activation at the National Ignition Facility

We report on the first observation of tertiary reaction-in-flight (RIF) neutrons produced in compressed deuterium and tritium filled capsules using the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA. RIF neutrons are produced by third-order, out of equilibrium (“in-flight”) fusion reactions, initiated by primary fusion products. The rate of RIF reactions is dependent upon the range of the elastically scattered fuel ions and therefore a diagnostic of Coulomb physics within the plasma. At plasma temperatures of ∼5 keV, the presence of neutrons with kinetic energies greater than 15 MeV is a unique signature for RIF neutron production. The reaction 169Tm(n,3n)167Tm has a threshold of 15.0 MeV, and a unique decay scheme making it a suitable diagnostic for observing RIF neutrons. RIF neutron production is quantified by the ratio of 167Tm/168Tm observed in a 169Tm foil, where the reaction 169Tm(n,2n)168Tm samples the primary neutron fluence. Averaged over 4 implosions1–4 at the NIF, the 167Tm/168Tm ratio is measured to be 1.5 ± 0.3 x 10−5, leading to an average ratio of RIF to primary neutron ratio of 1.0 ± 0.2 x 10−4. These ratios are consistent with the predictions for charged particle stopping in a quantum degenerate plasma.

Nuclear dependence of heavy quark production

The nuclear dependence of charm and beauty production is reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on the new high‐precision data from Fermilab experiment E772. These data are qualitatively compared with current theoretical models of nuclear dependent effects. The relevance of these results to J/ψ suppression studies in relativistic heavy ion collisions is also discussed.