The Star Builders

by Arthur Turrell

  13. “Einstein’s Equation of Life and Death,” BBC Horizon, BBC (2014), http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/einstein_equation_trans.shtml; W. Kaempffert, “Rutherford Cools Atom Energy Hope,” New York Times, 1933.

  14. L. Spitzer, Jr., Physics of Fully Ionised Gases (Geneva: Interscience, 1967).

  15. H. Alfvén, Nobel Lectures: Physics 1963–1970 (Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1972).

  16. J. Nuckolls, “Contributions to the Genesis and Progress of ICF,” in Inertial Confinement Nuclear Fusion: A Historical Approach by Its Pioneers (eds. G. Velarde and N. Carpintero-Santamaria) (London: Foxwell & Davies, 2007); D. Clery, A Piece of the Sun: The Quest for Fusion Energy (New York: Abrams, 2014).

  Chapter 4: How the Universe Builds Stars

  1. A. Eddington, Stars and Atoms (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927).

  2. H. Johnston, Lives of the Stars Lectures: Star Birth (2016).

  3. L. Koopmans et al., “The Cosmic Dawn and Epoch of Reionization with the Square Kilometre Array,” arXiv preprint arXiv:1505.07568 (2015); A. Patil et al., “Upper Limits on the 21 cm Epoch of Reionization Power Spectrum from One Night with LOFAR,” Astrophysical Journal 838 (2017): 65.

  4. E. M. Burbidge, G. R. Burbidge, W. A. Fowler, and F. Hoyle, “Synthesis of the Elements in Stars,” Reviews of Modern Physics 29 (1957): 547.

  5. O. Benomar et al., “Asteroseismic Detection of Latitudinal Differential Rotation in 13 Sun-like Stars,” Science 361 (2018): 1231–234.

  6. “The Hidden Mechanics of Magnetic Field Reconnection, A Key Factor in Solar Storms and Fusion Energy Reactors,” Phys.org (2017), https://phys.org/news/2017-10-hidden-mechanics-magnetic-field-reconnection.html; NASA, “The Day the Sun Brought Darkness” (2009), https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/sun_darkness.html.

  7. F. J. Dyson, “Search for Artificial Stellar Sources of Infrared Radiation” Science 131 (1960): 1667–668.

  8. H. Johnston, “Lives of the Stars Lectures: Star Birth” (2016); F. Tramper et al., “Massive Stars on the Verge of Exploding: The Properties of Oxygen Sequence Wolf-Rayet Stars,” Astronomy & Astrophysics 581 (2015): A110.

  9. A. Eddington, Stars and Atoms (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927).

  10. K. P. Schröder and R. Connon Smith, “Distant Future of the Sun and Earth Revisited,” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 386 (2008): 155–63.

  11. P. F. Winkler, G. Gupta, and K. S. Long, “The SN 1006 Remnant: Optical Proper Motions, Deep Imaging, Distance, and Brightness at Maximum,” Astrophysical Journal 585 (2003): 324; N. Gehrels et al., “Ozone Depletion from Nearby Supernovae,” Astrophysical Journal 585 (2003): 1169; B. R. Goldstein, “Evidence for a Supernova of AD 1006,” Astronomical Journal 70 (1965): 105; W. Rada and R. Neuhaeuser, “Supernova SN 1006 in Two Historic Yemeni Reports,” Astronomische Nachrichten 336 (2015): 249–57.

  Chapter 5: How to Build a Star with Magnetic Fields

  1. D. J. C. MacKay, Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air (UIT Cambridge, 2009); M. Kaku, Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel (New York: Anchor, 2009), 46–47.

  2. Lords Sitting—JET Nuclear Fusion Project: HL deb., vol. 485, 1517–1519 (Houses of Parliament, 1987).

  3. J. J. Thomson, The Corpuscular Theory of Matter (London: A. Constable & Company, Limited, 1907).

  4. X. Litaudon et al., “Overview of the JET Results in Support to ITER,” Nuclear Fusion 57 (2017): 102001.

  5. P. H. Rebut, “The Joint European Torus (JET),” European Physical Journal H 43 (2018): 459–97.

  6. M. Steenbeck and K. Hoffmann, Siemens Technical Report HW/PL: Number 27 (1943).

  7. W. H. Bennett, “Magnetically Self-Focussing Streams,” Physical Review 45 (1934): 890.

  8. A. Ware, “A Study of High-Current Toroidal Ring Discharge,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 243 (1951): 197–220; S. Cousins and A. Ware, “Pinch Effect Oscillations in a High Current Toroidal Ring Discharge,” Proceedings of the Physical Society B 64 (1951): 159; R. Carruthers, “The Beginning of Fusion at Harwell,” Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 30 (1988): 1993; T. Török, B. Kliem, and V. Titov, “Ideal Kink Instability of a Magnetic Loop Equilibrium,” Astronomy & Astrophysics 413 (2004): L27–L30.

  9. J. D. Hunter, “Matplotlib: A 2D Graphics Environment,” Computing in Science & Engineering 9 (2007): 90–95.

  10. J. Wesson and D.J. Campbell, Tokamaks, vol. 149 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).

  11. F. Chen, An Indispensable Truth: How Fusion Power Can Save the Planet (London: Springer Science + Business Media, 2011).

  12. H. Weisen et al., “The Scientific Case for a JET DT Experiment,” in AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 1612 (AIP, 2014), 77–86.

  13. J. D. Lawson, “Some Criteria for a Power Producing Thermonuclear Reactor,” Proceedings of the Physical Society B 70 (1957): 6.

  Chapter 6: How to Build a Star with Inertia

  1. R. Herman, Fusion: The Search for Endless Energy (Cambridge University Press, 1990).

  2. W. Dunn, “The New Industry of Building Stars,” New Statesman (2018), https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/energy/2018/11/new-industry-building-stars.

  3. E. Teller, Energy from Heaven and Earth (New York: W. H. Freeman Co. Limited, 1979).

  4. E. Teller, “Comments on Plasma Stability and on a Constant-Pressure Thermonuclear Reactor,” in Conference on Thermonuclear Reactions, Princeton University, October 26–27, 1954; A. S. Bishop, Project Sherwood: The US Program in Controlled Fusion (Boston: Addison-Wesley, 1958).

  5. J. Nuckolls, “Contributions to the Genesis and Progress of ICF,” in Inertial Confinement Nuclear Fusion: A Historical Approach by Its Pioneers (eds. G. Velarde and N. Carpintero-Santamaria) (London: Foxwell & Davies, 2007).

  6. T. H. Maiman, “Stimulated Optical Radiation in Ruby,” Nature 187 (1960): 493.

  7. J. Nuckolls, “Contributions to the Genesis and Progress of ICF,” in Inertial Confinement Nuclear Fusion: A Historical Approach by Its Pioneers (eds. G. Velarde and N. Carpintero-Santamaria) (London: Foxwell & Davies, 2007); D. Clery, A Piece of the Sun: The Quest for Fusion Energy (New York: Abrams, 2014).

  8. R. Kidder, “Laser Fusion: The First Ten Years 1962–1972,” in Inertial Confinement Nuclear Fusion: A Historical Approach by Its Pioneers (eds. G. Velarde and N. Carpintero-Santamaria) (London: Foxwell & Davies, 2007).

  9. J. D. Lindl, “Development of the Indirect-Drive Approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion and the Target Physics Basis for Ignition and Gain,” Physics of Plasmas 2 (1995): 3933–4024; R. Craxton et al., “Direct-Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion: A Review,” Physics of Plasmas 22 (2015): 110501.

  10. S. Atezni and J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, The Physics of Inertial Fusion (Oxford Science Publications, 2004); J. D. Lindl, “Development of the Indirect-Drive Approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion and the Target Physics Basis for Ignition and Gain,” Physics of Plasmas 2 (1995): 3933–4024; R. Olson et al., “First Liquid Layer Inertial Confinement Fusion Implosions at the National Ignition Facility,” Physical Review Letters 117 (2016): 245001.

  11. J. D. Lindl, “Development of the Indirect-Drive Approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion and the Target Physics Basis for Ignition and Gain,” Physics of Plasmas 2 (1995): 3933–4024.

  12. H. Robey et al., “The Effect of Laser Pulse Shape Variations on the Adiabat of NIF Capsule Implosions,” Physics of Plasmas 20 (2013): 052707.

  13. F. Suzuki-Vidal et al., “Interaction of a Supersonic, Radiatively Cooled Plasma Jet with an Ambient Medium,” Physics of Plasmas 19 (2012): 022708.

  14. D. H. Sharp, Overview of Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (Los Alamos National Lab., NM, USA, 1983).

  15. R. Herman, Fusion: The Search for Endless Energy (Cambridge University Press, 1990); J. D. Lindl, “Development of the Indirect-Drive Approach to Inertial Confinement Fusion and the Target Physics Basis for Ignit
ion and Gain,” Physics of Plasmas 2 (1995): 3933–4024; C. M. Braams and P. E. Stott, Nuclear Fusion: Half a Century of Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research (Bristol, UK: Institute of Physics Publishing, 2002); G. McCracken and P. Stott, Fusion: The Energy of the Universe (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2005); R. G. Evans, “UK Fusion Breakthrough Revealed at Last,” Physics World 23 (2010); C. Marsh, P. D. Roberts, and K. Johnston, “Nuclear Testing: A UK Perspective,” in US-UK Nuclear Cooperation After 50 Years (Washington, DC: CSIS Press, 2008), 228; W. J. Broad, “Secret Advance in Nuclear Fusion Spurs a Dispute Among Scientists,” New York Times (1988); G. Velarde and N. Carpintero-Santamaria, Inertial Confinement Fusion: A Historical Approach by Its Pioneers (London: Foxwell & Davies, 2007); S. Rose and J. Wark, “Laser Fusion’s Hot Secrets Revealed,” Physics World 7 (1994): 26.

  Chapter 7: The New Star Builders

  1. Quotations from Werner von Siemens, 1854–1892 (selection), Siemens Historical Institute (2016), https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:979a30ef7b0cf73bdf3fa4eefed7cbabcbef8a10/070-werner-von-siemens-quotations1.pdf.

  2. A. Riley, “This Shrimp Is Carrying a Real-Life Working Stun Gun,” BBC (2016), http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20160129-the-shrimp-that-has-turned-bubbles-into-a-lethal-weapon; M. Webster, “Bigger Bacon,” Radiolab from WNYC (2016), https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/bigger-bacon; M. Versluis, B. Schmitz, A. von der Heydt, and D. Lohse, “How Snapping Shrimp Snap: Through Cavitating Bubbles,” Science 289 (2000): 2114–117.

  3. C. MacLeod, “The 1690s Patents Boom: Invention or Stock-Jobbing?,” Economic History Review (1986): 549–71.

  4. “Oxford Startup Promises Fusion Gain by 2024,” EENews Europe (2019), https://www.eenewseurope.com/news/oxford-startup-promises-fusion-gain-2024#.

  5. A. Sykes et al., “Compact Fusion Energy Based on the Spherical Tokamak,” Nuclear Fusion 58 (2017): 016039; A. Sykes, “Progress on Spherical Tokamaks,” Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 36 (1994): B93.

  6. T. Lee, I. Jenkins, E. Surrey, and D. Hampshire, “Optimal Design of a Toroidal Field Magnet System and Cost of Electricity Implications for a Tokamak Using High Temperature Superconductors,” Fusion Engineering and Design 98 (2015): 1072–75; D. Cohn and L. Bromberg, “Advantages of High-Field Tokamaks for Fusion Reactor Development,” Journal of Fusion Energy 5 (1986): 161–70.

  7. A. Creely et al., “Overview of the SPARC Tokamak,” Journal of Plasma Physics 86 (2020).

  8. “Nuclear Fusion on Brink of Being Realised, Say MIT Scientists,” Guardian (2018), https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/09/nuclear-fusion-on-brink-of-being-realised-say-mit-scientists; B. N. Sorbom et al., “ARC: A Compact, High-Field, Fusion Nuclear Science Facility and Demonstration Power Plant with Demountable Magnets,” Fusion Engineering and Design 100 (2015): 378–405.

  9. S. Wurzel, “The Number of Fusion Energy Startups Is Growing Fast—Here’s Why,” Fusion Energy Base (2020), https://www.fusionenergybase.com/article/the-number-of-fusion-energy-startups-is-growing-fast-heres-why/; D. Chan-dler, “MIT and Newly Formed Company Launch Novel Approach to Fusion Power,” MIT News (2018), https://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-newly-formed-company-launch-novel-approach-fusion-power-0309; J. Tollefson, “MIT Launches Multimillion-Dollar Collaboration to Develop Fusion Energy,” Nature 555 (2018); J. Shieber, “A Boston Startup Developing a Nuclear Fusion Reactor Just Got a Roughly $50 Million Boost,” Tech Crunch (2019), https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/27/a-boston-startup-developing-a-nuclear-fusion-reactor-just-got-a-roughly-50-million-boost.

  10. “The British Reality TV Star Building a Fusion Reactor,” BBC News (2017), https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170418-the-made-in-chelsea-star-building-a-fusion-reactor.

  11. ARPA-E, “Department of Energy Announces $32 million for Lower-Cost Fusion Concepts” (2020), https://arpa-e.energy.gov/news-and-media/press-releases/department-energy-announces-32-million-lower-cost-fusion-concepts; ARPA-E, “Department of Energy Announces $29 million in Fusion Energy Technology Development” (2020), https://arpa-e.energy.gov/news-and-media/press-releases/department-energy-announces-29-million-fusion-energy-technology.

  12. K. Graham, “Canadian Startup Gets a $65 Million Boost for Fusion Power Plant,” Digital Journal (2019), http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/technology/canadian-startup-gets-a-65-million-boost-for-fusion-power-plant/article/563880; T. Orton, “General Fusion Partners with Hatch for Prototype Power Plant,” JWN Energy (2020), https://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2020/1/general-fusion-partners-hatch-prototype-power-plant/.

  13. M. Delage, “Timing Is Everything: Pushing Fusion Forward with Pistons & Cutting-Edge Electronics,” General Fusion (2018), https://generalfusion.com/2018/11/timing-everything-pushing-fusion-forward-pistons-cutting-edge-electronics/; M. Laberge, “Magnetized Target Fusion with a Spherical Tokamak,” Journal of Fusion Energy 38 (2019): 199–203; B. Borzykowski, “Why Bezos and Microsoft Are Betting on This $10 Trillion Energy Fix for the Planet,” CNBC (2019), https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/06/bezos-microsoft-bet-on-a-10-trillion-energy-fix-for-the-planet.html; T. Hamilton, “A New Approach to Fusion,” MIT Technology Review (2009), https://www.technologyreview.com/s/414559/a-new-approach-to-fusion/; D. Robitzski, “Expert: ‘I’m 100 Percent Confident’ Fusion Power Will Be Practical,” Futurism (2019), https://futurism.com/fusion-power-practical; T. Orton, “General Fusion Raises $27m, Construction on Large-Scale Prototype Two Years Away,” Business Vancouver (2015), https://biv.com/article/2015/05/general-fusions-raises-27m-ceo-says-prototype-two-.

  14. J. McMahon, “Energy from Fusion in a Couple Years, CEO Says, Commercialization in Five,” Forbes (2019), https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2019/01/14/private-firm-will-bring-fusion-reactor-to-market-within-five-years-ceo-says/#56c240f11d4a; M. Kanellos, “Hollywood, Silicon Valley and Russia Join Forces on Nuclear Fusion,” Forbes (2013), https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2013/03/11/hollywood-silicon-valley-and-russia-join-forces-on-nuclear-fusion/#4ff137e272ba; B. Wang, “CEO of TAE Technologies Says They Will Begin Commercialization of Fusion by 2023,” NextBigFuture (2019), https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/01/ceo-of-tae-technologies-says-they-will-reach-commercial-fusion-by-2024.html.

  15. M. Haines, “Plasma Containment in Cusp-Shaped Magnetic Fields,” Nuclear Fusion 17 (1977): 811; S. Best, “Trouble for Lockheed’s Fusion Reactor?,” Daily Mail (2017), https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4473908/Trouble-Lockheed-s-fusion-reactor.html; J. Trevithik, “Skunk Works’ Exotic Fusion Reactor Program Moves Forward with Larger, More Powerful Design,” The Drive (2019), https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29074/skunk-works-exotic-fusion-reactor-program-moves-forward-with-larger-more-powerful-design; R. Smith, “Lockheed Martin Doubles Down on Cold Fusion,” Yahoo! Finance (2019), https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lockheed-martin-doubles-down-cold-120300203.html.

  16. “Startup Nuclear Energy Companies Augur Safer, Cheaper Atomic Power,” Fortune (2014), https://fortune.com/2014/07/03/startup-nuclear-energy-companies/; “A New Approach to Fusion,” MIT Technology Review (2009), https://www.technologyreview.com/s/414559/a-new-approach-to-fusion/; BIV, “General Fusion Raises 27m, Construction on Large-Scale Prototype Two Years Away,” BIV.com (2015), https://biv.com/article/2015/05/general-fusions-raises-27m-ceo-says-prototype-two-; Futurism, “Expert: ‘I’m 100 Percent Confident’ Fusion Power Will Be Practical,” Futurism.com (2019), https://futurism.com/fusion-power-practical.

  17. V. J. Stenger, “Is the Big Bang a Bust?,” Skeptical Inquirier 16 (1992); A. Penzias, “Big Bang Theory Makes Sense of Cosmic Facts; No Contradiction,” New York Times (1991), https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/18/opinion/l-big-bang-theory-makes-sense-of-cosmic-facts-no-contradiction-092291.html; B. Feuerbacher and R. Scranton, “Evidence for the Big Bang” (2006), http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html#lerner.

  18. D. Klir et al., “Ion Acceleration Mechanism in Mega-Ampere Gas-Puff Z-Pinches,” New Journal of Physics 20 (2018): 053064; M. Krishnan, “The Dense Plasma Focus: A Versatile Dens
e Pinch for Diverse Applications,” IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 40 (2012): 3189–221.

  19. M. Halper, “Startup Nuclear Energy Companies Augur Safer, Cheaper Atomic Power,” Fortune (2014), https://fortune.com/2014/07/03/startup-nuclear-energy-companies/; M. Anderson, “How Far Can Crowd-Funded Nuclear Fusion Go?,” IEEE Spectrum (2014), https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/nuclear/how-far-can-crowdfunded-nuclear-fusion-go; E. J. Lerner, “Invest in LPPFusion,” Wefunder (2017), https://wefunder.com/lppfusion/about; E. Lerner, The Big Bang Never Happened: A Startling Refutation of the Dominant Theory of the Origin of the Universe (New York: Vintage, 2010); E. J. Lerner, S. M. Hassan, I. Karamitsos, and F. V. Roessel, “Confined Ion Energy >200 keV and Increased Fusion Yield in a DPF with Monolithic Tungsten Electrodes and Pre-Ionization,” Physics of Plasmas 24 (2017): 102708; E. J. Lerner, S. K. Murali, D. Shannon, A. M. Blake, and F. V. Roessel, “Fusion Reactions from >150 keV Ions in a Dense Plasma Focus Plasmoid,” Physics of Plasmas 19 (2012): 032704; E. J. Lerner, “Thank you all!,” Wefunder (2020), https://wefunder.com/updates/130741-thank-you-all.

  20. T. S. Pedersen et al., “Confirmation of the Topology of the Wendelstein 7-X Magnetic Field to Better Than 1:100,000,” Nature Communications 7 (2016).

  21. Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, “Angela Merkel Switches on Wendelstein 7-X Fusion Device” (2016), https://www.mpg.de/9926419/wendelstein7x-start; T. S. Pedersen et al., “Confirmation of the Topology of the Wendelstein 7-X Magnetic Field to Better Than 1:100,000,” Nature Communications 7 (2016).