Updated Magnetized Transport Coefficients: Impact on Laser-Plasmas with Self-Generated or Applied Magnetic Fields

TL;DR

This paper evaluates updated magnetized transport coefficients, demonstrating their significant impact on laser-plasma behavior with both self-generated and applied magnetic fields, supported by simulations of Biermann Battery fields.

Contribution

It confirms the agreement of two recent sets of updated transport coefficients and demonstrates their effects on magnetic field dynamics in laser-plasma interactions.

Findings

Updated coefficients agree between two recent studies.

New coefficients reduce field twisting in low magnetization regimes.

Simulations show increased spike penetration due to cross-gradient-Nernst transport.

Abstract

Errors in the Epperlein & Haines [PoF (1986)] transport coefficients were recently found at low electron magnetizations, with new magnetic transport coefficients proposed simultaneously by two teams [Sadler, Walsh & Li, PRL (2021) and Davies, Wen, Ji & Held, PoP (2021)]; these two separate sets of updated coefficients are shown in this paper to be in agreement. The importance of these new coefficients in laser-plasmas with either self-generated or applied magnetic fields is demonstrated. When an external magnetic field is applied, the cross-gradient-Nernst term twists the field structure; this twisting is reduced by the new coefficients in the low magnetization regime. For plasmas where only self-generated magnetic fields are present, the new coefficients are found to result in the magnetic field moving with the Righi-Leduc heat-flow, enhancing the impact of MHD. Simulations of Biermann Battery magnetic fields around ICF hot-spot perturbations are presented, with cross-gradient-Nernst transport increasing spike penetration.