Channeling of Fusion Alpha-Particle Power Using Minority Ion Catalysis
Authors: A.I. Zhmoginov and N.J. Fisch
Abstract:
Maintaining fuel ions hotter than electrons would greatly facilitate controlled nuclear fusion. The
parameter range for achieving this temperature disparity is shown here to be enhanced by catalyzing
the ∝-channeling effect through minority ion heating. Specifically, a wave can extract energy from
hot ∝ particles and transfer it to colder minority ions, which act as a catalyst, eventually forwarding
the energy to colder fuel ions through collisions. In comparison with the traditional ∝-channeling
mechanism, the requirements are thereby relaxed on the waves that accomplish the ∝-channeling,
which no longer have to interact simultaneously with ∝-particles and fuel ions. Numerical simulations
illustrate how the new scheme may increase, for example the effective fusion reactivity of mirror-
confined plasmas.
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Submitted to: Physical Review Letters (August 2011)
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