Transformational imaging diagnostics for inertial confinement fusion

当我在爱丁堡大学攻读计算物理综合硕士学位时，一位朋友评论说，作为物理学家，我们可以为聚变能的发展做出贡献。因此，我正在攻读博士学位。在爱丁堡大学三年级和四年级之间的那个夏天，我在钻石光源学院（Diamond Light Source）实习，度过了一段美妙的时光。在那里，我接触到了x射线成像（不是字面上的），尽管这不是我项目的重点。然后，在我四五岁的时候，我参加了CCFE等离子体物理暑期学校。我的高级荣誉项目是高压下的锂/钠超导，我的硕士项目是薄层湍流。我目前项目的标题是“惯性约束聚变的转换成像诊断”。惯性约束核聚变包括用激光加热和压缩少量燃料（氘和氚），直到它的密度和温度足以进行核聚变。激光通过烧蚀表面材料来产生压缩，这就导致了“火箭效应”。当材料从表面烧蚀时，它会产生压缩力（通过牛顿定律），这与解释火箭推进的原理相同。核心的最大密度和热量是通过对称压缩来实现的，这需要对称烧蚀，这是很难实现的。这项任务尤其困难，因为很难在燃料内部成像。在Nigel Woolsey（约克大学）和Robbie Scott （STFC-CLF）的指导下，我的项目目标是开发新的成像技术（可能涉及相衬成像），以帮助和改进惯性约束聚变诊断。这可能涉及到使用计算模拟来测试成像技术，看看它是否产生准确的图像和有用的结果。

While I was studying for my integrated masters in computational physics at Edinburgh university, a friend commented that as physicists we could contribute to the development of fusion energy. As a result, I'm doing a PhD.In the summer between my 3rd and 4th years at Edinburgh, I had a fantastic time doing an internship at the Diamond Light Source. While there I was exposed to X-ray imaging (not literally), although it wasn't the focus of my project. Then, between my 4th and 5th years, I attended the CCFE Plasma Physics Summer School.My Senior honours project looked at lithium/sodium superconducting at high pressure, and my masters project was focused on thin layer turbulence.My current project's title is "Transformational imaging diagnostics for inertial confinement fusion". Inertial confinement fusion involves heating and compressing a small amount of fuel (deuterium and tritium) with lasers until it is dense and hot enough to undergo fusion. The lasers cause the compression by ablating a surface material, which leads to "the rocket effect". As the material ablates off the surface, it causes a compression force (through Newton's laws), using the same idea that explains rocket propulsion.The maximum density and heat in the core is achieved with symmetric compression, which requires symmetric ablation, which is quite difficult to achieve. This task is made especially difficult as it is hard to image inside the fuel.Under the supervision of Nigel Woolsey (University of York) and Robbie Scott (STFC-CLF), my project's goal is to develop new imaging techniques (likely involving phase contrast imaging), to aid and improve inertial confinement fusion diagnostics. This will likely involve using computational simulations to test the imaging technique to see if it yields accurate images and useful results.