Systematic Quantum Corrections to Screening in Thermonuclear Fusion

Chitanvis, Shirish M.

doi:10.1086/509496

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…One of the first studies that, on a microscopic basis, demonstrated deviations from the D-H factor was carried out by Johnson et al (1992;see also Shaviv 2004;Shaviv & Shaviv 2000, 2002Chitanvis 2007). The different approaches mentioned so far are based on the assumption that electrons are distributed in space according to a Boltzmann factor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modified Debye‐Huckel Electron Shielding and Penetration Factor

Quarati

Scarfone

2007

ApJ

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A screened potential modified by nonstandard electron cloud distributions, which are responsible for the shielding effect on fusion of reacting nuclei in astrophysical plasmas, is derived. The case of clouds with depleted tails in space coordinates is discussed. The modified screened potential is obtained both from statistical mechanics arguments based on fluctuations of the inverse of the Debye-Hückel radius and from the solution of a Bernoulli equation used in generalized statistical mechanics. Plots and tables useful for evaluating the penetration probability at any energy are provided.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modified Debye‐Huckel Electron Shielding and Penetration Factor

Quarati

Scarfone

2007

ApJ

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“…The use of CD 2 solid-state targets can enhance the neutron production. In addition, the use of CD 2 solid-state targets can also lead to direct measurements of the reaction rates at low temperatures and great enhancement on the plasma screening comparing to the case of D 2 gas jet targets, offering the possibility to access to these so far unsolved issues in the field of astrophysics [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30].We first study the neutron events as functions of plasma temperature adopting a general spherical plasma model, and calculate the neutron spectra. Then we model the plasma formation by the scaling law method for D 2 gas jet targets, and the particle in cell (PIC) method for CD 2 solid-state targets.…”

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Neutron production from thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas

2020

Physics of Plasmas

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The production of intense neutron beams via thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas is investigated theoretically. So far, state-of-the-art neutron beams are produced via laser-induced particle acceleration leading to high-energy particle beams that subsequently interact with a secondary target. Here we show that neutron beams of similar intensity and two orders of magnitude narrower bandwidth can be obtained from thermonuclear reactions in plasmas generated by Petawatt-class lasers. We study to this end the reaction 2 H(d, n) 3 He in plasmas generated by Petawatt-class laser interacting with D2 gas jet targets and CD2 solid-state targets. The use of CD2 solid-state targets can also allow the direct measurement of the nuclear reaction rates at low temperatures and show great enhancement on the plasma screening comparing to the case of D2 gas jet targets, opening new possibilities to study these two so far unsolved issues in the field of astrophysics.Thermonuclear reactions occur in plasma environments in which the thermal energy of the ions can overcome the electrostatic repulsion in a collision between nuclei, leading to nuclear reactions [1]. The development of laser technology in the past decades provides a powerful tool for the study of nuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas. As plasma is the most abundant form of matter in the universe, the latter provides the opportunity to access parameter regimes which can not be accessed in accelerator-based experiments, such as the direct measurements of nuclear reactions in nucleosynthesis-relevant energies and the role of the plasma effects on nuclear reactions [2-5], and might thus significantly advance our understanding of astrophysical environments. On the other hand, industrial applications of such studies, such as laser-induced ignition which makes fusion energy a viable alternative energy source [5][6][7], have also attracted a great deal of attention.Neutron production is one of the key areas of the field of nuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Normally the experimental access to high neutron flux is mainly at large-scale reactor and accelerator-based facilities. However, the development of Petawatt-class laser provides the opportunity of having intense neutron beam generated by comparatively smaller-scale laser facilities [11][12][13]. The common solution for neutron production in the Petawatt-class laser facilities is via high-energy particle beams interacting with a secondary target, in which the lasers are used for the acceleration of particles [11][12][13]. In this manner, intense neutron beams with the order of 10 9 -10 10 per pulse can be obtained [11][12][13].Neutrons produced from thermonuclear reactions in plasmas at a few keV temperatures have a much narrow energy spectrum comparing to the neutrons produced via high-energy ion beams interacting with a secondary target. In this letter, we study the intense neutron beams produced from thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas. We analyze the rea...

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“…The plasma screening effect for thermonuclear reactions has continued to be intensively studied theoretically in the past decades [8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26], and it could not remain free of controversy given that experimental tests are missing so far [1,7,27,28]. Theoretical models focus mostly on classical plasma models [8,[11][12][13][14][15], while quantum plasma models only address the weak screening regime and have shown good agreement with the classical weak screening [16,[19][20][21]. Hints on the important role of quantum effects come from the atomic counterpart of plasmas screening, the plasma-induced ionization potential depression (IPD).…”

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confidence: 99%

Quantum effects on plasma screening for thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas

Elsing,

Pálffy,

2021

Preprint

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A quantum plasma screening model based on the density matrix formalism is used to investigate theoretically the thermonuclear reactions 13 C(α, n) 16 O and 2 H(d, n) 3 He in laser-generated plasmas over a large range of densities and temperatures. We find that for cold and dense (solid-state density) plasmas, the quantum model predicts plasma screening enhancement factors up to one order of magnitude larger than the ones from classical plasma models. Our results indicate that quantum effects can enhance the plasma screening for thermonuclear reactions, with potential also for industrial fusion energy gain. We put forward a possible experimental test of the screening theory in laser-generated plasmas which could also confirm predictions from nuclear astrophysics.

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Systematic Quantum Corrections to Screening in Thermonuclear Fusion

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Modified Debye‐Huckel Electron Shielding and Penetration Factor

Modified Debye‐Huckel Electron Shielding and Penetration Factor

Neutron production from thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas

Quantum effects on plasma screening for thermonuclear reactions in laser-generated plasmas

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