The Velocity Distribution Function of Thermonuclear Alpha Particles in a Mirror Reactor

抄録

The velocity distribution of α-particles produced by D–T reactions in a magnetic mirror reactor is analyzed using the Fokker-Planck equation, which is integrated numerically after expanding the distribution function of α-particles in a series of eigenfunctions of the Legendre equation. Together with the distribution function, several quantities of interest are then evaluated. The influence of the velocity distributions of plasma electrons and ions on the α-particles is investigated by assuming two model functions, Maxwellian and non-Maxwellian, and it is shown that the form of the electron distribution at low speeds may have important effect on the α-particle distribution. The convergence property of the Legendre expansion is also discussed.