Collisionless Shocks, Implicit Moments, and Laser Fusion Implosions

Abstract

In 2020, the author was awarded the Charles K. Birdsall Award for the contributions performed in his studies of Computational Nuclear and Plasma Sciences. This article collects work performed during his long career in plasma modeling starting as early as 1962. In that year, he worked during the summer at The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA, USA, and in 1964, he completed his Ph.D. at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. In 1965, the author studied under a Fulbright Grant in Garching, Germany. Then, from 1965–1967, he was an Assistant Professor and a Ford Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. From 1967 to 1972, the author was a researcher at Bell Laboratories, Whippany, NJ, USA. From 1972 to 2006, the author performed plasma physics modeling at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA. Thereafter, until 2017, the author pursued plasma studies at his Research Applications Corporation (RAC), White Rock, NM, USA. This article will review the author’s studies of laser-driven Inertial Confinement Fusion, development and use of the Implicit Moment Method of plasma simulation, Modeling of Plasma Opening Switches, and improved shock viscosity.