Speaker: Dr. Scott Feister, Flash Center for Computational Science, University of Chicago
Abstract: The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s most energetic laser, is more than an inertial confinement fusion platform – it can drive extreme plasma conditions for laboratory astrophysics. The University of Chicago and its international team of collaborators won allocation of several NIF shots, spaced over a few years, to study the development of magnetized turbulence and turbulent dynamo. By giving validated simulations a central role in the experimental design process, we have endeavored to "not throw away our shot." The 3D MHD code FLASH was validated in a range of smaller experiments, then it was used to simulate our experimental ideas from start (laser interaction) to finish (plasma diagnostics). We have replicated plasma diagnostics within FLASH to make one-to-one comparisons with experimental data, and make choices about diagnostic timings and exposures. Our simulations have also informed many aspects of the experimental target design and laser drive as implemented at NIF. These simulations show Biermann battery magnetic fields seeded in the laser interaction and amplified in a central, highly-turbulent dynamo region.