Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Compressive fluctuations in hot plasma, including acoustic waves and compressible turbulence, increase the rate of fusion reactions. This power amplification comprises hydrodynamic, ``two-temperature,'' and kinetic components, the first resulting from the clumping of hot ions in the peaks of the fluctuations, the second from the unequal heating of ions and electrons as fluctuations dissipate, and the third from the long mean free paths of fast ions near the Gamow peak, which allow these ions to stream across gradients in fluctuating hydrodynamic fields before colliding. In many cases, the increase in fusion power produced by waves exceeds that produced if the wave energy were instead used for heating. Response functions describing the modification to fusion power by compressive fluctuations are obtained in magnetized and unmagnetized fusion plasmas. Comparison to the related shear flow reactivity enhancement effect, a kinetic mechanism that increases fusion power in some divergence-free flows, illustrates a fundamental distinction between compressible and solenoidal turbulence in fusion plasmas.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Fetsch, Henry, Fisch, Nathaniel J.
Institution: Princeton University
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G3368156615, G3530654624
OpenAlex ID: W7166674752
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