Apparent and real thermal inhibition in laser-produced plasmas

Laser-driven thermal electron-transport inhibition is studied with use of a self-consistent Monte Carlo model for all the electrons. Comparison is made with the results of flux-limited single group diffusion calculations. The need for severe flux limiters is traced to deficiencies in the classical diffusion modeling that can excessively heat the overdense surface matter of a pellet, ignore coronal decoupling of the thermals, and neglect the effects of E fields for a return current through density gradients