Criterion of formation of a thermonuclear burn wave in deuterium-tritium targets

One of the conditions for implementing high-efficiency thermonuclear burning in laser thermonuclear fusion is the formation of a thermonuclear burn wave in an inhomogeneous plasma. The authors obtain in the present paper, as a result of qualitative estimates and a direct numerical simulation of the dynamics of burn-wave formation, the conditions of the density distribution and the active-zone temperature at the instant of the maximum compression, whereby a self-sustaining thermonuclear burn wave is inevitably obtained in the target during the time of its expansion. 19 refs., 2 figs.