Institut de Physique Nucléaire, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, 91406, Orsay Cedex, France.
CEA, DAM, DIF, 91297, Arpajon, France.
Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 21;10(1):351. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-08052-6.
The fusion of deuterium (D) with tritium (T) is the most promising of the reactions that could power thermonuclear reactors of the future. It may lead to even more efficient energy generation if obtained in a polarized state, that is with the spin of the reactants aligned. Here, we report first-principles predictions of the polarized DT fusion using nuclear forces from effective field theory. By employing the ab initio no-core shell model with continuum reaction method to solve the quantum mechanical five-nucleon problem, we accurately determine the enhanced fusion rate and angular distribution of the emitted neutron and He. Our calculations demonstrate in detail the small contribution of anisotropies, placing on a firmer footing the understanding of the rate of DT fusion in a polarized plasma. In the future, analogous calculations could be used to obtain accurate values for other, more uncertain thermonuclear reaction data critical to nuclear science applications.
氘（D）与氚（T）的融合是未来热核聚变反应堆最有前途的反应之一。如果以极化态获得，即反应物的自旋对齐，则可能导致更高效的能量产生。在这里，我们使用有效场论中的核力报告了极化 DT 融合的第一性原理预测。通过采用具有连续反应方法的从头算无核壳模型来解决五核子量子力学问题，我们准确地确定了增强的融合速率和发射中子和 He 的角分布。我们的计算详细展示了各向异性的小贡献，从而更稳固地理解了极化等离子体中 DT 融合的速率。将来，类似的计算可用于获得对其他更不确定的热核聚变反应数据的准确值，这些数据对核科学应用至关重要。
