Twenty times lower ignition threshold for laser driven fusion using collective effects and the inhibition factor

Abstract

Hydrodynamic analysis for ignition of inertial fusion by Chu [Phys. Fluids 15, 413 (1972)] arrived at extremely high thresholds of a minimum energy flux density E* at 4×108J∕cm2 which could be provided, e.g., by spark ignition. In view of alternative schemes of fast ignition, a re-evaluation of the early analysis including later discovered collective stopping power and the inhibition factor results in a 20 times lowering of the threshold for E*.