The application of magnetic fields in inertial fusion experiments has led to renewed
interest in fully understanding magnetised transport in laser-plasma
regimes. This motivated the development of a new laser magnetohydrodynamic
code PARAMAGNET, written to support investigations into classical
magnetised transport phenomena and laser propagation in a plasma. This
code was used to simulate laser-underdense plasma interactions such as the
pre-heat stage of magneto-inertial fusion. Alongside these simulations, this
thesis will present analytic focusing and filamentation models derived from
magnetohydrodynamics extended with classical magnetised transport coefficients.
These results showed the focal length and filamentation growth length
shortened with magnetisation, a result of the magnetisation of the thermal
conductivity.
Further investigation of the transport properties using the diffusion approximation
kinetic code IMPACT showed significant deviation of the growth rate
at intermediate values of magnetisation and non-locality, inexplicable using
fluid models. The kinetic code result motivated exploring the influence of the
high-order anisotropies of the distribution function (in terms of spherical harmonics),
ignored in conventional approximations. By using a recursive matrix
inverse method, corrections to the transport coefficients including all orders
of the electron distribution expansion were found. Analysis of the conductivity, resistivity and thermoelectric coefficients showed deviation
by up to 50% from the classical form at intermediate magnetisation and nonlocality.
The diffusive approximation of the IMPACT simulations was insufficient
to capture the transport behaviour present in the theoretical high order
calculation.
Modern inertial fusion experiments work in regimes that are non-local and
susceptible to significant focusing exacerbated by magnetisation. The resulting
filamentation has detrimental implications to laser absorption and the modified
non-local transport behaviour is a possible source of error in simulations.
The complex interplay between non-locality and magnetisation in transport
suggests using more terms of the spherical harmonic expansion in closures of
plasma equations. Particular consideration is given to the implications to inertial
fusion experiments. Together these results suggest the necessity of including
non-local magnetised transport in the modelling of high-energy-density
laser plasma experiments.