2019 Physics/Theoretical Colloquium

 

Thursday, June 6th , 2019

3:45 – 4:45 p.m.

Rosen Auditorium (TA-53, Bldg. 001)

 

Refreshments at 3:15pm

 

Speaker:   Dr. Bruce Remington

 

NIF Discovery Science Program Leader

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

 

 

 

“Exploring the universe through Discovery Science on NIF*” 

Abstract: 

 

An overview of recent research done on the 2 MJ, 192 beam NIF laser facility at LLNL through the NIF Discovery Science program will be presented. A selection of examples will be drawn from experiments on nuclear reactions in capsule implosions relevant to stellar nucleosynthesis [1,2]; studies of equations of state and phase of H, C, and Fe at high pressures (1-60 Mbar) and densities relevant to planetary interiors [3, 4, 5, 6]; heat conduction stabilized Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth relevant to supernova remnants [7]; deep nonlinear, ablation front Rayleigh-Taylor experiments in indirect drive; [8]  high velocity, low density interpenetrating plasma flows that generate collisionless shocks and magnetic fields relevant to astrophysical settings; [9, 10] and accelerating protons to ~30 MeV and generating relativistic electrons at high flux using the ARC laser at NIF. [11, 12]

 

[1] Daniel T. Casey et al., “Thermonuclear reactions probed at stellar-core conditions with laser-based inertial-confinement fusion,” Nature Physics 13, 1227 (2017).

[2] Maria Gatu Johnson et al., “Optimization of a high-yield, low-areal-density fusion product source at the NIF with applications in nucleosynthesis experiments,” Physics of Plasmas 25, 056303 (2018).

[3] Peter Celliers et al, “Insulator-metal transition in dense fluid deuterium,” Science 361, 677 (2018).

[4] Raymond F. Smith et al., “Equation of state of iron under core conditions of large rocky exoplanets,” Nature Astronomy 2, 452 (2018).

[5] Raymond F. Smith et al., “Ramp compression of diamond to five terapascals,” Nature 511, 330 (2014).

[6] Tilo Doppner et al., “Absolute equation-of-state measurement for polystyrene from 25-60 Mbar using a spherically converging shock wave,” Physical Review Letters 121, 025001 (2018).

[7] Carolyn C. Kuranz, “How high energy fluxes may affect Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth in young supernova remnants,” Nature Communications 9, 1564 (2018).

[8] Alexis Casner et al., “Probing the deep nonlinear stage of the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor instability in indirect-drive experiments on the NIF,” Physics of Plasmas 22, 056302 (2015).

[9] James S. Ross et al., “Transition from collisional to collisionless regimes in interpenetrating plasma flows on the National Ignition Facility,” Physical Review Letters 118, 185003 (2017).

[10] Channing Huntington et al., “Observation of magnetic field generation via the Weibel instability in interpenetrating plasma flows,” Nature Physics 11, 173 (2015).

[11] Derek Mariscal et al., “First demonstration of ARC-accelerated proton beams at the NIF,” Physics of Plasmas 26, 043110 (2019).

[12] Jackson Williams et al., “Production of relativistic electrons at MeV temperatures at sub-relativistic laser intensities, at NIF ARC” Physical Review Letters, submitted (2019).

 

*This work was performed under the auspices of U.S. DOE by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.