Physics of Inertial Fusion: Beam Plasma Interaction, Hydrodynamics, Hot Dense Matter, Stafano Atzeni and Jürgen Meyer-ter-Vehn

Abstract

Physics of Inertial Fusion: Beam Plasma Interaction, Hydrodynamics, Hot Dense Matter, Stafano Atzeni and Jürgen Meyer-ter-Vehn, Clarendon Press, 2004, 458 pages, ISBN: 0198562640This book has several remarkable highlights summarized on laser produced plasmas and particle beam driven fusion energy. In contrast to the usual books, the nuclear fusion reactions are presented with very detailed experience, including pycnonuclear reactions, spin polarization, and mentioning the 25 orders of magnitude less probable weak force pp-reaction than DT. There is a rather comprehensive collection of the conditions of confinement, spherical implosion, ignition burn, and gain. Hydrodynamics is based on a one fluid model, not Schlüter's space charge quasi-neutral two-fluid model nor the genuine two-fluid treatment. Hohlraum targets are covered and the fast ignition (FI) contains the forte of the authors' own achievements though the entire problems shown experimentally or theoretically (Mulser et al., 2004) are not discussed nor the new aspects on FI known before finishing the book (Hora, 2004). The 36 pages for the entire physics of (laser- and particle-) beam-target interaction are used to sketch at least the most important aspects.