A nonlocal electron conduction model for multidimensional radiation hydrodynamics codes

Numerical simulation of laser driven Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) rela ted experiments require the use of large multidimensional hydro codes. Thou gh these codes include detailed physics for numerous phenomena, they deal p oorly with electron conduction, which is the leading energy transport mecha nism of these systems. Electron heat flow is known, since the work of Lucia ni, Mora, and Virmont (LMV) [Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 1664 (1983)], to be a non local process, which the local Spitzer-Harm theory, even flux limited, is u nable to account for. The present work aims at extending the original formu la of LMV to two or three dimensions of space. This multidimensional extens ion leads to an equivalent transport equation suitable for easy implementat ion in a two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic code. Simulations are prese nted and compared to Fokker-Planck simulations in one and two dimensions of space. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(00)02010-3].