Abstract:
For decades, the running joke in fusion research is that “fusion is twenty years away and always will be.”  Well, don’t get your hopes up since this joke is likely still a truism. However, that doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been significant progress! In this lecture, we will discuss some of the origins and physics principles of fusion research, discuss why getting useful fusion is so challenging, but also report on the significant scientific milestones that have taken place the last few years on the U.S. National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Finally, we’ll touch on some of the remaining technological problems that must be overcome if terrestrial fusion is to become a viable energy source.