Modeling of LPI and non-local electron transport for radiation hydrodynamic simulation

In the last phase of the shock ignition scheme, an intense spike laser pulse drives a strong shock in order to ignite the compressed fuel. The generation of strong shock is in a laser-plasma interaction regime where laser-plasma instabilities are expected. For example, generation of hot electron and its non-local transport cannot be ignored. The kinetic simulations are effective to evaluate these dynamics. However, spatial domain of the implosion simulation is very huge for kinetic simulations, and it is unrealistic. The effect of the LPI, generation of hot electron and laser absorption rate is modeled using PIC simulation and reflected into radiation hydrodynamic simulation [1] where non-local electron conduction model [2] is installed. A typical SI simulation is conducted to evaluate the performance of the implosion using the simulation models. We also consider the effect of external magnetic field for magnetized fast ignition.

[1] H. Nagatomo et al., Nucl. Fusion 57, 086009 (2017)

[2] Ph. D. Nicolai et al, Phys. Plasmas 13, 032701 (2006)