Alpha-Heating and a Burning Plasma State

L. R. BENEDETTI, D. BRADLEY, D. FITTINGHOFF, N. IZUMI, S. KHAN, R. TOWN (LLNL) G. GRIM, N. GULER, G. KYRALA, F. MERRILL, C. WILDE, P. VOLEGOV (LANL) High-foot implosions show net fuel gains and significant alpha-heating [Hurricane et al., \textit{Nature}, \textbf{506}, (2014)] using a per shot analysis of NIF data with a static reconstruction of the implosion energetics [e.g. Cerjan et al., \textit{PoP}, \textbf{20}, (2013)]. Inference of the alpha-heating contribution to the yield is made using a simulation database of DT implosions and the one-to-one correspondence of yield amplification and normalized Lawson criteria [Patel et al., APS-DPP, (2013); Patel et al. this conf.]. A dynamic semi-analytic model for the DT self-heating rate can be constructed that can more directly be used, with data, to determine the degree of bootstrapping occuring in implosions. Here we propose that the suite of high-foot data demonstrate a scaling of fusion yield performance versus energy absorbed that provides an alternate proof of significant alpha-particle self-heating. This analysis shows that recent high-foot implosions are alpha-heating dominated and thus have achieved a 'burning-plasma' state.