Review of the First Charged-Particle Transport Coefficient Comparison Workshop

TL;DR

This paper summarizes the outcomes of the inaugural Charged-Particle Transport Coefficient Code Comparison Workshop, highlighting the variability in calculated transport coefficients and emphasizing the importance of understanding their accuracy for high-energy density physics simulations.

Contribution

It provides the first comparative analysis of transport coefficient calculations across multiple institutions, identifying sources of discrepancies and uncertainties.

Findings

Large variations in transport coefficients when Coulomb coupling is high.

Computational expense impacts the accuracy of calculations.

Understanding uncertainties aids in better hydrodynamic modeling.

Abstract

We present the results of the first Charged-Particle Transport Coefficient Code Comparison Workshop, which was held in Albuquerque, NM October 4-6, 2016. In this first workshop, scientists from eight institutions and four countries gathered to compare calculations of transport coefficients including thermal and electrical conduction, electron-ion coupling, inter-ion diffusion, ion viscosity, and charged particle stopping powers. Here, we give general background on Coulomb coupling and computational expense, review where some transport coefficients appear in hydrodynamic equations, and present the submitted data. Large variations are found when either the relevant Coulomb coupling parameter is large or computational expense causes difficulties. Understanding the general accuracy and uncertainty associated with such transport coefficients is important for quantifying errors in hydrodynamic simulations of inertial confinement fusion and high-energy density experiments.