THERMONUCLEAR REACTION WAVE IN HIGH-DENSITY PLASMA

Plasma and the controlled thermonuclear reaction.

Shock ignition of thermonuclear fuel with high areal density.

A novel method by C. Zhou and R. Betti [Bull. Am. Phys. Soc. 50, 140 (2005)] to assemble and ignite thermonuclear fuel is presented. Massive cryogenic shells are first imploded by direct laser light with a low implosion velocity and on a low adiabat leading to fuel assemblies with large areal densities. The assembled fuel is ignited from a central hot spot heated by the collision of a spherical...

Prediction of Thermonuclear Reaction Rates in Astrophysics

Recent improvements and remaining problems in the prediction of thermonuclear rates are reviewed. The main emphasis is on statistical model calculations, but the challenge to include direct reactions close to the driplines is also briefly addressed. Further theoretical as well as experimental investigations are motivated.

Dynamic Screening and Thermonuclear Reaction Rates

We show that there are no dynamic screening corrections to the Salpeter’s enhancement factor in the weak-screening limit. Subject headings: nuclear reactions

Analytical Study of Thermonuclear Reaction Probability Integrals

An analytic study of the reaction probability integrals corresponding to the various forms of the slowly varying cross-section factor S(E) is attempted. Exact expressions for reaction probability integrals are expressed in terms of the extended gamma functions.