The Physics of Inertial Fusion

The growing effort in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research, with the upcoming new MJ class laser facilities, NIF in USA and LMJ in France, and the upgraded MJ z-pinch ZR facility in the USA, makes the appearance of this book by Atzeni and Meyer-ter-Vehn very timely. This book is an excellent introduction for graduate or masters level students and for researchers just entering the field. It is written in a very pedagogical way with great attention to the basic understanding of the physical processes involved. The book should also be very useful to researchers already working in the field as a reference containing many key formulas from different relevant branches of physics; experimentalists will especially appreciate the presence of 'ready-to-use' numerical formulas written in convenient practical units. The book starts with a discussion of thermonuclear reactions and conditions required to achieve high gain in ICF targets, emphasizing the importance of high compression of the D-T fuel, and compares the magnetic confinement fusion and inertial confinement fusion approaches. The next few chapters discuss in detail the basic concepts of ICF: the hydrodynamics of a spherically imploding capsule, ignition and energy gain. This is followed by a thorough discussion of the physics of thermal waves, ablative drive and hydrodynamic instabilities, with primary focus on the Rayleigh--Taylor instability. The book also contains very useful chapters discussing the properties of hot dense matter (ionization balance, equation of state and opacity) and the interaction of laser and energetic ion beams with plasma. The book is based on and reflects the research interests of the authors and, more generally, the European activity in this area. This could explain why, in my opinion, some topics are covered in less detail than they deserve, e.g. the chapter on hohlraum physics is too brief. On the other hand, the appearance in the book of an interesting chapter on the concept of fast ignition is also a reflection of the research interests of the authors. Altogether, the book is very well written, contains a wealth of useful information and the reviewer highly recommends it to the interested reader. (book review)