Fokker-Planck kinetic modeling of suprathermal α-particles in a fusion plasma

We present an ion kinetic model describing the transport of suprathermal α-particles in inertial fusion targets. The analysis of the underlying physical model enables us to develop efficient numerical methods to simulate the creation, transport and collisional relaxation of fusion reaction products (α-particles) at a kinetic level. The model assumes spherical symmetry in configuration space and axial symmetry in velocity space around the mean flow velocity. A two-energy-scale approach leads to a self-consistent modeling of the coupling between suprathermal α-particles and the thermal bulk of the imploding plasma. This method provides an accurate numerical treatment of energy deposition and transport processes involving suprathermal particles. The numerical tools presented here are then validated against known analytical results. This enables us to investigate the potential role of ion kinetic effects on the physics of ignition and thermonuclear burn in inertial confinement fusion schemes.