Updated Magnetized Transport Coefficients: Impact on Laser-Plasmas with Self-Generated or Applied Magnetic Fields

Abstract

Errors in the Epperlein & Haines [PoF (1986)] transport coefficients were recently found at low electron magnetizations, with new magnetic transport coefficients proposed simultaneously by two teams [Sadler, Walsh & Li, PRL (2021) and Davies, Wen, Ji & Held, PoP (2021)]; these two separate sets of updated coefficients are shown in this paper to be in agreement. The importance of these new coefficients in laser-plasmas with either self-generated or applied magnetic fields is demonstrated. When an external magnetic field is applied, the cross-gradient-Nernst term twists the field structure; this twisting is reduced by the new coefficients in the low magnetization regime. For plasmas where only self-generated magnetic fields are present, the new coefficients are found to result in the magnetic field moving with the Righi-Leduc heat-flow, enhancing the impact of MHD. Simulations of Biermann Battery magnetic fields around ICF hot-spot perturbations are presented, with cross-gradient-Nernst transport increasing spike penetration.