Investigating heat transport properties of turbulent, magnetised plasmas via Thomson scattering and X-ray emission*

Experiments at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) have replicated the micro-physics of galaxy clusters, revealing a breakdown of Spitzer's heat conduction theory in highly magnetized, turbulent, and weakly collisional plasmas [1]. Line-integrated X-ray emission analysis provided compelling evidence that turbulent-dynamo-amplified magnetic fields significantly suppress heat conduction, a phenomenon not accounted for by Spitzer's theory. To further investigate the mechanisms behind this strong heat conduction suppression, the experimental platform from NIF was replicated at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics' (LLE) OMEGA facility [2] by the introduction of a heater beam. By leveraging multiple in situ diagnostics such as probing Thomson scattering, X-ray emission, and proton radiography to characterize the heat front propagation, heat suppression at OMEGA is demonstrated for the first time.

[1] Meinecke, Sci. Adv., 8, eabj6799 (2022) 

[2] Tzeferacos, Nature Comm., 9, 591 (2018)