Sheared flow increases the reactivity of fusion plasma. In unmagnetized plasma with flow gradients comparable to the mean free path of reacting ions, fusion reactivity can be more than doubled. The effect is of particular relevance to inertial confinement fusion (ICF), where it allows implosion kinetic energy to contribute to the fusion burn even before thermalizing. Because colder fuel stops alpha particles more quickly, ignition is possible in a smaller volume, substantially reducing energy requirements in fast-ignition designs.

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• Fast ignition
• Fusion products
• High-energy-density plasmas
• Implosion symmetry
• Indirect drive
• Inertial confinement fusion
• Nuclear fusion
• Plasma fusion
• Plasma turbulence
• Inertially confined plasmas
• First-principles calculations in plasma physics
• Fokker-Planck & Vlasov model
• Hydrodynamics
• Plasma kinetic theory