Ab initio predictions for polarized deuterium-tritium thermonuclear fusion

Guillaume Hupin,Petr Navrátil,Sofia Quaglioni

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-08052-6

Abstract

The fusion of deuterium (D) with tritium (T) is the most promising of the reactions that could power thermonuclear reactors of the future. It may lead to even more efficient energy generation if obtained in a polarized state, that is with the spin of the reactants aligned. Here, we report first-principles predictions of the polarized DT fusion using nuclear forces from effective field theory. By employing the ab initio no-core shell model with continuum reaction method to solve the quantum mechanical five-nucleon problem, we accurately determine the enhanced fusion rate and angular distribution of the emitted neutron and 4He. Our calculations demonstrate in detail the small contribution of anisotropies, placing on a firmer footing the understanding of the rate of DT fusion in a polarized plasma. In the future, analogous calculations could be used to obtain accurate values for other, more uncertain thermonuclear reaction data critical to nuclear science applications.

Highlights

The fusion of deuterium (D) with tritium (T) is the most promising of the reactions that could power thermonuclear reactors of the future
Thermonuclear reaction rates of light nuclei are critical to nuclear science applications ranging from the modeling of big-bang nucleosynthesis and the early phases of stellar burning to the exploration of nuclear fusion as a terrestrial source of energy
We report on ab initio predictions for the polarized DT fusion using validated NN and 3N forces derived in the framework of chiral effective field theory (EFT)[17,18], a powerful tool that enables the organization of the interactions among protons and neutrons in a systematically improvable expansion linked to the fundamental theory of quantum chromodynamics

Summary

Introduction

The fusion of deuterium (D) with tritium (T) is the most promising of the reactions that could power thermonuclear reactors of the future. Analogous calculations could be used to obtain accurate values for other, more uncertain thermonuclear reaction data critical to nuclear science applications. 1234567890():,; Thermonuclear reaction rates of light nuclei are critical to nuclear science applications ranging from the modeling of big-bang nucleosynthesis and the early phases of stellar burning to the exploration of nuclear fusion as a terrestrial source of energy. A predictive understanding of thermonuclear reactions is needed alongside experiments to achieve the accuracy and/or provide part of the nuclear data required by these applications. MeV of energy released in the form of kinetic energy of the products. This reaction, used at facilities such as ITER1 and NIF2 in the pursuit of sustained fusion energy production, is characterized by a pronounced resonance at the center-of-mass (c.m.)

Methods

Results

Conclusion