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Hakel, Peter

Publications and source records attributed to Hakel, Peter.

30 records · Page 2

Systematic Fuel Cavity Asymmetries in Directly Driven Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions

Here, we present narrow-band self-emission x-ray images from a titanium tracer layer placed at the fuel-shell interface in 60-laser-beam implosion experiments at the OMEGA facility. The images are acquired during deceleration with inferred convergences of ~9-14. Novel here is that a systematically observed asymmetry of the emission is linked, using full sphere 3D implosion modeling, to performance-limiting low mode asymmetry of the drive.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Observation and modeling of interspecies ion separation in inertial confinement fusion implosions via imaging x-ray spectroscopy

In this article, we report the first direct experimental evidence of interspecies ion separation in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments performed at the OMEGA laser facility via spectrally, temporally, and spatially resolved imaging x-ray-spectroscopy data [S. C. Hsu et al., Europhys. Lett. 115, 65001 (2016)]. These experiments were designed based on the expectation that interspecies ion thermo-diffusion would be the strongest for species with a large mass and charge difference. The targets were spherical plastic shells filled with D2 and a trace amount of Ar (0.1% or 1% by atom). Ar K-shell spectral features were observed primarily between the time of first-shock convergence and slightly before the neutron bang time, using a time- and space-integrated spectrometer, a streaked crystal spectrometer, and two gated multi-monochromatic x-ray imagers fielded along quasi-orthogonal lines of sight. Detailed spectroscopic analyses of spatially resolved Ar K-shell lines reveal the deviation from the initial 1% Ar gas fill and show both Ar-concentration enhancement and depletion at different times and radial positions of the implosion. The experimental results are interpreted using radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that include recently implemented, first-principles models of interspecies ion diffusion. Lastly, the experimentally inferred Ar-atom fraction profiles agree reasonably with calculated profiles associated with the incoming and rebounding first shock.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Observation of interspecies ion separation in inertial-confinement-fusion implosions

Here we report direct experimental evidence of interspecies ion separation in direct-drive, inertial-confinement-fusion experiments on the OMEGA laser facility. These experiments, which used plastic capsules with D 2 /Ar gas fill (1% Ar by atom), were designed specifically to reveal interspecies ion separation by exploiting the predicted, strong ion thermo-diffusion between ion species of large mass and charge difference. Via detailed analyses of imaging x-ray-spectroscopy data, we extract Ar-atom-fraction radial profiles at different times, and observe both enhancement and depletion compared to the initial 1%-Ar gas fill. The experimental results are interpreted with radiation-hydrodynamic simulations that include recently implemented, first-principles models of interspecies ion diffusion. Finally, the experimentally inferred Ar-atom-fraction profiles agree reasonably, but not exactly, with calculated profiles associated with the incoming and rebounding first shock.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

A NEW GENERATION OF LOS ALAMOS OPACITY TABLES

We present a new, publicly available set of Los Alamos OPLIB opacity tables for the elements hydrogen through zinc. Our tables are computed using the Los Alamos ATOMIC opacity and plasma modeling code, and make use of atomic structure calculations that use fine-structure detail for all the elements considered. Our equation of state model, known as ChemEOS, is based on the minimization of free energy in a chemical picture and appears to be a reasonable and robust approach to determining atomic state populations over a wide range of temperatures and densities. In this paper we discuss in detail the calculations that we have performed for the 30 elements considered, and present some comparisons of our monochromatic opacities with measurements and other opacity codes. We also use our new opacity tables in solar modeling calculations and compare and contrast such modeling with previous work.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

FESTR, Version 0.x

FESTR is a modeling tool for calculating spectroscopic-quality synthetic outputs (e.g., spectra and images) based on (in general) the time evolutions of 3-D spatial distributions of materials characterized by their chemical composition, temperature, and density conditions. FESTR performs raytracing across unstructured meshes, builds intrinsic optical properties of mixed materials by performing equation-of-state lookups in external data, and then solves the radiation-transport equation along rays to obtain emergent time and space resolved synthetic spectra. These results can be further processed into time and/or space integrated spectra, as well as into spectral-band-integrated synthetic images, radiated power histories, and total radiated energy values. FESTR is also applicable to spatial reconstructions of material properties via the analysis of experimental data.

Hakel, Peter↗

FESTR, Version 0.x

FESTR is a modeling tool for calculating spectroscopic-quality synthetic outputs (e.g., spectra and images) based on (in general) the time evolutions of 3-D spatial distributions of materials characterized by their chemical composition, temperature, and density conditions. FESTR performs raytracing across unstructured meshes, builds intrinsic optical properties of mixed materials by performing equation-of-state lookups in external data, and then solves the radiation-transport equation along rays to obtain emergent time and space resolved synthetic spectra. These results can be further processed into time and/or space integrated spectra, as well as into spectral-band-integrated synthetic images, radiated power histories, and total radiated energy values. FESTR is also applicable to spatial reconstructions of material properties via the analysis of experimental data.

Hakel, Peter↗

Relativistic opacities for astrophysical applications

Here, we report on the use of the Los Alamos suite of relativistic atomic physics codes to generate radiative opacities for the modeling of astrophysically relevant plasmas under local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions. The atomic structure calculations are carried out in fine-structure detail, including full configuration interaction. Three example applications are considered: iron opacities at conditions relevant to the base of the solar convection zone, nickel opacities for the modeling of stellar envelopes, and samarium opacities for the modeling of light curves produced by neutron star mergers. In the first two examples, comparisons are made between opacities that are generated with the fully and semi-relativistic capabilities in the Los Alamos suite of codes. As expected for these highly charged, iron-peak ions, the two methods produce reasonably similar results, providing confidence that the numerical methods have been correctly implemented. However, discrepancies greater than 10% are observed for nickel and investigated in detail. In the final application, the relativistic capability is used in a preliminary investigation of the complicated absorption spectrum associated with cold lanthanide elements.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Progress of the LANL Low Temperature/Low Frequency Air Opacity Project - Optical Theory for HET-project: an update, April 2015

Light radiated from a hot, opaque thermal emitter originates mostly from near the surface at which the object becomes opaque (the surface of last scattering). To be specific, we define the “optical surface” as the surface at which the optical depth, as observed from a detector, takes on the value of 1. The optical depth along a line of sight depends on the wavelength dependent. Accumulating light in different spectral bands, spectral detector then records light from different surfaces, a structure that we can picture somewhat like the layers of an onion. The theoretical framework that predicts the emitted spectral signal is radioactive transfer.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

(U) Computation acceleration using dynamic memory

Many computational applications require the repeated use of quantities, whose calculations can be expensive. In order to speed up the overall execution of the program, it is often advantageous to replace computation with extra memory usage. In this approach, computed values are stored and then, when they are needed again, they are quickly retrieved from memory rather than being calculated again at great cost. Sometimes, however, the precise amount of memory needed to store such a collection is not known in advance, and only emerges in the course of running the calculation. One problem accompanying such a situation is wasted memory space in overdimensioned (and possibly sparse) arrays. Another issue is the overhead of copying existing values to a new, larger memory space, if the original allocation turns out to be insufficient. In order to handle these runtime problems, the programmer therefore has the extra task of addressing them in the code.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗