High resolution kinetic transport simulations of inertial confinement fusion experiments

We have coupled a two-dimensional electron Vlasov-Fokker-Planck model with the Chimera radiation-hydrodynamics code, with the aim of understanding thermal transport and magnetic field generation in systems relevant to Inertial Confinement Fusion hohlraums. Simulations of hohlraum wall heating, with the associated bubble expansion and transport into the hohlraum gas, reveal a number of differences when compared to standard radiation-hydrodynamics simulations with flux-limited Braginskii transport. We find that the magnetic field generation is dominated by pressure anisotropies, leading to instabilities which drive magnetic filaments and turbulence. By solving non-local dispersion relations for the collisional-Weibel and magnetothermal instabilities, the growth rates and wavelengths of these features can be estimated and applied in a wider context. Other aspects of the interaction, such as the kinetic suppression of the heat-flux, Nernst effect and Biermann battery will be discussed and compared to reduced models. The new computational model strengthens efforts to improve the predictive capability of inertial fusion simulations in the challenging kinetic regime.