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Arnold, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Arnold, P..

Achievement of Target Gain Larger than Unity in an Inertial Fusion Experiment

On December 5, 2022, an indirect drive fusion implosion on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved a target gain G target of 1.5. This is the first laboratory demonstration of exceeding “scientific breakeven” (or G target > 1 ) where 2.05 MJ of 351 nm laser light produced 3.1 MJ of total fusion yield, a result which significantly exceeds the Lawson criterion for fusion ignition as reported in a previous NIF implosion [H. Abu-Shawareb (Indirect Drive ICF Collaboration), ]. This achievement is the culmination of more than five decades of research and gives proof that laboratory fusion, based on fundamental physics principles, is possible. This Letter reports on the target, laser, design, and experimental advancements that led to this result. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Lawson Criterion for Ignition Exceeded in an Inertial Fusion Experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin “burn propagation” into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While “scientific breakeven” (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this work reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The evolution of the Nevada National Security site waste acceptance criteria - 15312

The Nevada National Security Site Waste Acceptance Criteria (DOE/NV--325) is an evolution of requirements spanning almost three decades of waste acceptance at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). The original waste acceptance criteria (WAC) document was written in 1978 (document NVO-185) and underwent multiple revisions as time passed and disposal experience was gained. This document came into being when the NNSS first started receiving significant quantities of low-level radioactive waste (LLW) from offsite U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) generators, such as the Mound and Rocky Flats Plants. The original WAC was far less prescriptive and rigorous than the current criteria since many of the current DOE order directives, Federal/State laws, and regulations did not exist. The current WAC reflects the results of numerous revisions in order to address the nuances of the varied waste streams and package configurations accepted for disposal at the NNSS. This includes waste streams that exhibit challenges not previously faced or covered by the WAC and therefore, from time to time, require new information and or changes to be made to the WAC. These wastes now represent a growing percentage of the remaining waste at cleanup sites across the DOE Complex. These waste streams present challenges, such as the technical basis for ensuring safe transportation to and disposal at the NNSS. The current WAC (Rev. 10 dated June 2013), is Available online at: http://www.nv.energy.gov/library/publications/Environmental/DOENV{sub 3}25.pdf). Other challenges for the NNSS include incorporating new and emerging technologies and addressing stakeholder concerns. Addressing these challenges sometimes results in changes to the NNSS WAC. Drivers for revising the NNSS WAC over the years have included operating experience improvements, the need to specify waste origin/ownership, and identifying preferred transportation routing. This paper will discuss various aspects of the NNSS WAC, and how it has evolved based upon DOE orders and requirements, acceptance of offsite mixed wastes, acceptance of non-radioactive classified wastes, stakeholder concerns and agreements, and the changing face of the remaining legacy waste at DOE sites across the United States. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

QCD and Strongly Coupled Gauge Theories: Challenges and Perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to stongly-coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Application of a recursive distortion estimator to the geodetic correction of thematic mapper imagery

It is pointed out that the higher resolution provided by the Thematic Mapper increases the demands on the accuracy needed by the ground processing in correcting for geodetic errors deriving from internal misalignments and uncertainties in the knowledge of spacecraft ephemeris and attitude. In addition, the Thematic Mapper will also process longer imagery intervals than previous missions. The recursive distortion estimator to be used is a Kalman filter. Here, a minimum variance spacecraft state error vector is estimated for known initial covariance of the elements of that vector and known image noise. Tests of the recursive distortion estimator with various spacecraft models carried out using a simulation of real world state vector dynamics are described. A determination is made of the density of control points needed to meet specified geometric correction requirements; it is expressed as a function of imagery interval length and control point measurement error.

Arnold, P.↗

Image registration system in the Landsat-D production environment

It is the purpose of the considered system to take pieces of imagery, called control point chips (CPC), whose geodetic location has been previously determined and stored, and locate their position in later imagery of the same area. The registration processes are carried out partially on a DEC VAX 780 computer and partially on a Floating Point Systems Array Processor. Typically sets of 20 control points are processed at a time. To process these as sets, and to optimize the use of both machines, operations are grouped into loops instead of a sequential processing for each point. Attention is given to cloud cover assessment, enhancement, correlation techniques, pixel registration, and subpixel registration.

Kiss, P.↗

Cognitive memory

Perceptive cognition system structurally analyzed with semantic techniques for parsing and compiling

Arnold, P.↗