The Physics of Inertial Fusion

(From Oxford Scholarship Online) \nThe book is devoted to targets for nuclear fusion by inertial confinement and to the various branches of physics involved. It first discusses fusion reactions and general requirements for fusion energy production. It then introduces and illustrates the concept of inertial confinement fusion by spherical implosion, followed by detailed treatments of the physics of fusion ignition and burn, and of energy gain. The next part of the book is mostly devoted to the underlying physics involved in inertial fusion, and covers hydrodynamics, hydrodynamic stability, radiative transport and equations-of-state of hot dense matter, laser and ion beam interaction with plasma. It discusses different approaches to inertial fusion (direct-drive by laser, indirect-drive by laser or ion beams), including recent developments in fast ignition. The goal of the book is to give an introduction to this subject, and also to provide practical results even when derived on the basis of simplified models.