Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of the Thermomagnetic Instability

The thermomagnetic instability produces a rapidly growing magnetic field in an initially unmagnetized plasma [1]. The instability is driven by a combination of physical effects; the Biermann Battery, which produces magnetic fields where density and temperature gradients are non-collinear, magnetizes the plasma, and results in the Nernst effect and Righi-Leduc heat flow driving the exponential field growth [2]. These conditions are often produced in laser plasmas through nonuniform heating [1,2]. This project characterizes the range of conditions under which the instability grows, as well as its physical behavior during deceleration stage ICF conditions through MHD simulations in HYDRA. [1] D.A. Tidman and R. A. Shanny, The Physics of Fluids 17, 1207 (1974); [2] M. Sherlock and J.J. Bissell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 055001 (2020)