A Semi-Analytic Model for Staged Z-Pinch Implosions

Semi-analytic models are useful tools in performing high-level parameter scans of complicated systems, as they are more flexible than analytic models and less computationally expensive than full-fledged simulations. Such models guided early magnetized target fusion (MTF) efforts
¹
, and have been published recently in the literature for MTF
²
, MagLIF
³
, and
$\text{PLX}-\alpha$

⁴
. We present here a semi-analytic model for the Staged Z-pinch, a magneto-inertial concept in which a high-atomic-number cylindrical liner or gas-puff implodes onto a low-Z (e.g. H or D) target, and compare its predictions with those of the radiation-MHD codes HYDRA and MACH2.