Interactions of relativistic electron beams with high atomic‐number plasmas

A relativistically correct Fokker–Planck analysis is used to develop fluid equations which model the interaction of relativistic electron beams with high atomic‐number plasmas. The derived collision terms can be used to describe scattering and energy loss in materials ranging from the solid to high‐temperature plasma forms. The full set of equations discussed can be used to study electron‐beam‐initiated pellet fusion in a completely self‐consistent fashion. Specifically, the model is applicable to study of beam pinching in plasma‐filled diodes, the interaction of focused beams with target plasmas, and the transport of high ν/γ beams in high atomic‐number plasmas. Although the general equations are amenable to solutions only by computational techniques, analytic solutions describing the time‐dependent, collisional interaction of a beam in an infinite plasma and the one‐dimensional equilibrium of a beam in a plasma with applied electric field have been obtained.