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Ab initio calculations of the equation of state of hydrogen in a regime relevant for inertial fusion applications

Abstract:

We describe ab initio electronic structure calculations (density functional theory molecular dynamics and coupled electron-ion quantum Monte Carlo) of the equation of state (EOS) of hydrogen in a pressure-temperature regime relevant for simulating the initial phase of an inertial confinement fusion capsule implosion. We find the computed EOS to be quite close to that of the most recent SESAME table (constructed by G. Kerley, 2003). A simple density-dependent but temperature-independent correction brings the 2003-Kerley EOS into excellent agreement with ours in the chosen region of the hydrogen phase diagram. Simulations of fusion ignition experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) with this modified 2003-Kerley table are shown to produce results nearly indistinguishable from those of the 2003-Kerley EOS, which was used to design the capsule. In this sense, we do not expect that further improvements to the hydrogen EOS in this particular regime will impact the capsule design. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.