Modeling nuclear fusion in dense plasmas using a cryogenic non-neutral plasma

Abstract

An analogy between the nuclear reaction rate in a dense neutral plasma and the energy equipartition rate in a strongly magnetized non-neutral plasma is discussed. This analogy allows the first detailed measurements of plasma screening enhancements in the strong screening and pycnonuclear regimes. In strong magnetic fields and at low temperatures, cyclotron energy, like nuclear energy, is released only through rare close collisions between charges. The probability of such collisions is enhanced by plasma screening, just as for nuclear reactions. Rate enhancements of up to 1010 are measured in simulations of equipartition, and are compared to theories of screened nuclear reactions.