DOCTORAL CANDIDATE
Anton Moroz

SUPERVISORS
Prof. Dimitri Batani, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – CELIA (CNRS-CELIA)
Prof. Gérard Malka, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – CELIA (CNRS-CELIA)
Prof. Francois Ladouceur, University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Nuclear engineering, plasma physics, photonics

The Monte-Carlo (MC), Particle-in-Cell (PIC), and Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) methods are commonly used to tackle the simulation of systems out of equilibrium such as those found in astrophysics. The same approaches can be used to study laser-induced fusion reactions whose evolution is described by the (relativistic) Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE).

Solving the BTE in this context is a daunting task as it must take into account: (1) the creation of new atomic species caused by the fusion reactions, (2) the strength of non-homogenous electromagnetic gradient fields, and (3) potential avalanche effects. As it stands, a large body of more or less disparate work exists mixing and matching the various simulation approaches but an actual framework that could guide reactor design and optimize fusion yield is yet to be assembled. This research project seeks to look for additional experimental data, to federate existing theoretical contributions, implement them in code when appropriate, and validate them experimentally. This project is in collaboration with the Spanish Centre for Pulsed Lasers (CLPU), (Salamanca), and HB11 Energy Pty Ltd, (Sydney).