Plasma gate switch experiment on Pegasus II

The plasma gate switch is a novel technique for producing a long conduction time vacuum opening switch. The switch consists of an aluminum foil which connects the cathode to the anode in a coaxial geometry. The foil is designed so that the maximum axial acceleration is in the center of the foil and that at the appropriate time, the center opens up and magnetic flux is carried down the gun to the load region. The switch is designed to minimize the amount of mass transported into the load region. We have completed the first experimental test of this design and present results from the test. These results indicate there were some asymmetry problems in the construction of the switch but that otherwise the switch performed as expected

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Possibility of an unequivocal test of different models of the equation of state of aluminum in the coupling regime ~ 1- 50

NRC publication: Ye

Experiments on planar plasma flow switches at Los Alamos

The authors have performed a series of experiments on the Colt facility at Los Alamos to study the performance of plasma flow switches and to understand the important physics issues which affect that performance. These experiments were done in planar geometry on a small machine to allow for better diagnostic access and a higher repetition rate. The Colt facility is a capacitor bank which stores 300 kJ at maximum charge and produced a peak current of 1.1 MA in 2.0 microseconds for these experiments. The diagnostics used for these experiments included an array of b-dot probes, visible framing pictures, visible spectroscopy, and laser interferometry. Characteristics of the switch are determined from spatial and temporal profiles of the magnetic field and the spatial profile and temperature of the switch plasma. Here the authors present results from experiments for a variety of switch conditions

Comparison and analysis of 2-D simulation results with two implosion radiation experiments on the Los Alamos Pegasus I and Pegasus II capacitor banks

Two experiments, PegI-41, conducted on the Los Alamos Pegasus I capacitor bank, and PegII-25, on the Pegasus II bank, consisted of the implosions of 13 mg (nominal), 5 cm radius, 2 cm high thin cylindrical aluminum foils resulting in soft x-ray radiation pulses from the plasma thermalization on axis. The implosions were conducted in direct-drive (no intermediate switching) mode with peak currents of about 4 MA and 5 MA respectively, and implosion times of about 2.5 {micro}s and 2.0 {micro}s. A radiation yield of about 250 kJ was measured for PegII-25. The purpose of these experiments was to examine the physics of the implosion and relate this physics to the production of the radiation pulse and to provide detailed experimental data which could be compared with 2-D radiation-magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) simulations. Included in the experimental diagnostic suites were faraday rotation and dB/dt current measurements, a visible framing camera, an x-ray stripline camera, time-dependent spectroscopy, bolometers and XRD`S. A comparison of the results from these experiments shows agreement with 2-D simulation results in the instability development, current, and radiation pulse data, including the pulsewidth, shape, peak power and total radiation yield as measured by bolometry. Instabilities dominate the behavior of the implosion and largely determine the properties of the resulting radiation pulse. The 2-D simulations can be seen to be an important tool in understanding the implosion physics

Systematic Fuel Cavity Asymmetries in Directly Driven Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions

We present narrow-band self-emission x-ray images from a titanium tracer layer placed at the fuel-shell interface in 60-laser-beam implosion experiments at the OMEGA facility. The images are acquired during deceleration with inferred convergences of similar to 9-14. Novel here is that a systematically observed asymmetry of the emission is linked, using full sphere 3D implosion modeling, to performance-limiting low mode asymmetry of the drive