FLASH Simulations of Laser-Driven Experiments to Investigate Heat Transport in Astrophysical Magnetized Turbulence

ORAL

Abstract

The role of thermal conduction in sustaining the anomalously high core temperatures observed in galaxy clusters, despite their short radiative cooling times, has been the subject of extended debate [1]. Classical Spitzer conductivity predicts a significant contribution from thermal conduction. However, astronomical observations of small-scale temperature fluctuations suggest strong suppression relative to Spitzer predictions [2], a theory supported by recent experimental work at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [3]. The underlying mechanism responsible for the suppression remains unclear. To investigate this, high-fidelity FLASH simulations were used to design and execute an experimental campaign at the Omega Laser Facility of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics. This work leveraged the established turbulent dynamo (TDYNO) experimental platform [4], introducing heater beams to alter the temperature profile of the turbulent interaction region. The inclusion of laser heating increases the collisional mean free path to values significantly larger than the plasma Larmor radius, consequently enhancing thermal conduction suppression.

References

[1] Cowie et al., Astrophys. J. 215, 723 (1977)

[2] Markevitch et al., Astrophys. J. 586, L19 (2003)

[3] Meinecke et al., Sci. Adv. 8, eabj6799 (2022)

[4] Tzeferacos et al., Nat. Commun. 9, 591 (2018)

*The Flash Center for Computational Science acknowledges support by the U.S DOE NNSA under Awards DE-NA0004144, DE-NA0004147, DE-NA0002724, DE-NA0003605, and DE-NA0003934, and under subcontracts no. 630138 and C4574 with Los Alamos National Laboratory. This material is based upon work supported by the NSF through the NSF GRFP Fellowship Program, DGE-1939268. Support from the U.S. DOE Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences under Award DE-SC0021990, and the NSF under Awards PHY-2033925 and PHY-2308844 is also acknowledged.

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Presenters

  • Mary Rose McMullan

    • University of Rochester

Authors

  • Mary Rose McMullan

    • University of Rochester

  • Archie F.A. Bott

    • University of Oxford

  • Hannah Poole

    • University of Oxford
    • University of Rochester

  • Charlotte A Palmer

    • Queen's University Belfast

  • Yangyuxin (Amy) Zou

    • University of Rochester

  • Kassie Moczulski

    • University of Rochester

  • Anthony Scopatz

    • University of Rochester

  • Dustin H Froula

    • University of Rochester

  • Joseph D Katz

    • University of Rochester - Laboratory for Laser Energetics
    • Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Hye-Sook Park

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  • Adam Reyes

    • Pacific Fusion
    • University of Rochester

  • James S Ross

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • Livermore

  • Alexander A Schekochihin

    • Univ of Oxford
    • Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK

  • Don Q Lamb

    • University of Chicago

  • Gianluca Gregori

    • University of Oxford

  • Petros Tzeferacos

    • University of Rochester