Magnetothermal instability in laser plasmas including hydrodynamic effects

Bissell, J.J.; Kingham, R.J.; Ridgers, C.P.

Abstract

The impact of both density gradients and hydrodynamics on the evolution of the field compressing magnetothermal instability is considered [J. J. Bissell et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 175001 (2010)]. Hydrodynamic motion is found to have a limited effect on overall growth-rates; however, density gradients are shown to introduce an additional source term corresponding to a generalised description of the field generating thermal instability [D. Tidman and R. Shanny, Phys. Fluids 17, 1207 (1974)]. The field compressing and field generating source terms are contrasted, and the former is found to represent either the primary or sole instability mechanism for a range of conditions, especially those with Hall parameter v > 101. The generalised theory is compared to numerical simulation in the context of a recent nano-second gas-jet experiment [D. H. Froula et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 135001 (2007)] and shown to be in good agreement: exhibiting peak growth-rates and wavelengths of order 10 ns1 and 50 lm, respectively. The instability’s relevance to other experimental conditions, including those in inertial confinement fusion (I.C.F.) hohlraums, is also discussed.

Citation

Bissell, J., Kingham, R., & Ridgers, C. (2012). Magnetothermal instability in laser plasmas including hydrodynamic effects. Physics of Plasmas, 19(5), Article 052107. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4718639

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: May 1, 2012
• Deposit Date: May 30, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 20, 2012
• Journal: Physics of Plasmas
• Print ISSN: 1070-664X
• Electronic ISSN: 1089-7674
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 5
• Article Number: 052107
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4718639
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1476451