Asymptotic behavior of the shear flow reactivity enhancement effect
New research explores the 'shear flow reactivity enhancement effect' (SFRE) in fusion plasmas, a phenomenon where fast ions near the Gamow peak can boost fusion reactivity.
The SFRE, driven by fast ions traveling long distances between collisions and gaining velocity boosts from background flow gradients, allows turbulent kinetic energy to contribute to fusion reactivity before thermalization.
This effect can enable ignition in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) hot spots even when fully thermalized plasma would not.
The study demonstrates that as Gamow energy increases relative to thermal energy, the SFRE in unmagnetized plasma exhibits asymptotic behavior.
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