Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Article number | 20200017 |
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<mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 25/01/2021 |
<mark>Journal</mark> | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |
Issue number | 2189 |
Volume | 379 |
Publication Status | Published |
Early online date | 7/12/20 |
<mark>Original language</mark> | English |
Magnetic fields can be generated in plasmas by the Biermann battery when the electric field produced by the electron pressure gradient has a curl. The commonly employed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of the Biermann battery breaks down when the electron distribution function is distorted away from Maxwellian. Using both MHD and kinetic simulations of a laser-plasma interaction relevant to inertial confinement fusion we have shown that this distortion can reduce the Biermann-producing electric field by around 50%. More importantly, the use of a flux limiter in an MHD treatment to deal with the effect of the non-Maxwellian electron distribution on electron thermal transport leads to a completely unphysical prediction of the Biermann-producing electric field and so results in erroneous predictions for the generated magnetic field. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 2)'.