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Thermonuclear reactions probed at stellar-core conditions with laser-based inertial-confinement fusion

Journal Article · · Nature Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4220· OSTI ID:1404861
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  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Ohio Univ., Athens, OH (United States)
  3. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  4. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Stars are giant thermonuclear plasma furnaces that slowly fuse the lighter elements in the universe into heavier elements, releasing energy, and generating the pressure required to prevent collapse. To understand stars, we must rely on nuclear reaction rate data obtained, up to now, under conditions very different from those of stellar cores. Here we show thermonuclear measurements of the 2H(d, n)3He and 3H(t,2n)4He S-factors at a range of densities (1.2–16 g cm–3) and temperatures (2.1–5.4 keV) that allow us to test the conditions of the hydrogen-burning phase of main-sequence stars. The relevant conditions are created using inertial-confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility. Here, our data agree within uncertainty with previous accelerator-based measurements and establish this approach for future experiments to measure other reactions and to test plasma-nuclear effects present in stellar interiors, such as plasma electron screening, directly in the environments where they occur.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1404861
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL--692682
Journal Information:
Nature Physics, Journal Name: Nature Physics Vol. 13; ISSN 1745-2473
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Optimization of a high-yield, low-areal-density fusion product source at the National Ignition Facility with applications in nucleosynthesis experiments journal May 2018
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Ultrafast measurements of ion temperature in high-energy-density plasmas by nuclear resonance fluorescence journal June 2019
Investigation of light ion fusion reactions with plasma discharges journal November 2019
Nuclear diagnostics for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) plasmas journal January 2020
Experimental Evidence of a Variant Neutron Spectrum from the T ( t , 2 n ) α Reaction at Center-of-Mass Energies in the Range of 16–50 keV journal July 2018
Observations of Multiple Nuclear Reaction Histories and Fuel-Ion Species Dynamics in Shock-Driven Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions journal January 2019
Petapascal Pressure Driven by Fast Isochoric Heating with a Multipicosecond Intense Laser Pulse journal January 2020
Peta-Pascal Pressure Driven by Fast Isochoric Heating with Multi-Picosecond Intense Laser Pulse text January 2019

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