Efficient Shell Implosion and Target Design

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Abstract
A theoretical model is presented that describes the spherical ablative implosion under a constant mass ablation rate. The implosion dynamics is found to be determined only by one parameter, which we call the implosion parameter. An analytical formulation for the hydrodynamic efficiency is obtained as a function of the implosion parameter. The theory is applied to shell implosions driven by steady black-body radiation, and compared with computer simulations. As a result, we obtain scaling laws of the optimum shell radius and the aspect ratio, leading to a maximum hydrodynamic efficiency as a function of the radiation intensity and its pulse duration. Stability requirements on those scaling laws and the relation between the transformation efficiency and the aspect ratio are also discussed.