{"record":{"author":{"account_ref":null,"orcid":null},"builds_on":[],"content_schema":"pubphys.content.revision/1","content_sha256":"da7b53f63a2daafa276851f04836efa26856e89a03db75acbe282f1cfb5614bd","created":"2026-10-15T23:43:22Z","files":[],"origin":{"assisted_by":[],"kind":"seed"},"parents":["ce59fb6cd812fc05906d0c60a71c75ea22bc686bcf38e7c3ef7010834d98ee7b","d9ba2b5cafb58399ed002cedfc051549d81fc48db992cd4eeab95b3e4557ef5b"],"salt":"0220773f418f54d3c4652f150a8588f96ca27d0ca1b5b89bc67bf912a3a117da","schema":"pubphys.record/2","site":"pubphys.com","target":null,"type":"revision"},"content":{"answer_type":"yes-no","assisted_by":[],"external_id":"plasma.hed-fusion.maglif-high-gain","kind":"well-posed","literature_status":"open","n":"2","parents":[],"plain":"A different route to inertial fusion uses a huge electric current to crush a metal tube of fuel that has been magnetized and preheated by a laser. Designs predict high gain on a larger machine, but whether instabilities and mixing allow it is unknown.","posed_since":"2012","precise":"In magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF: axial seed field of order $10^{5}\\ \\mathrm{G}$, laser-preheated D or DT fuel, liner imploded by a current pulse of about $20\\ \\mathrm{MA}$ on the Z machine), magnetic insulation lowers the required fuel areal density. Determine whether integrated designs reach ignition and gain $G\\ \\text{above}\\ 10$ at drive currents of $40\\ \\text{to}\\ 70\\ \\mathrm{MA}$, given measured limits from magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor growth, preheat-induced mix and magnetized electron heat transport (Nernst advection). An answer is a radiation-MHD design validated on Z data at $20\\ \\mathrm{MA}$, or a demonstrated scaling showing it fails.","problem_ref":"d9ba2b5cafb58399ed002cedfc051549d81fc48db992cd4eeab95b3e4557ef5b","references":"","settled_by":"Validated radiation-MHD scaling from Z experiments to a next-generation pulsed-power driver, then an experiment on such a driver.","status_note":"Slutz and Vesey (2012, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.025003) predicted gains well above 10 at about 60 MA; no driver at that current existed as of mid-2026.","title":"Can magnetized liner inertial fusion reach high gain?","topic_ref":null},"attested":{"attestation":{"batch":null,"client_id":null,"id_token_sha256":null,"kind":"platform"},"record_hash":"c85a19ee242a9a516da64933a9cc912dcebe650e278b53e2be87949b4225c8a9","schema":"pubphys.attested/1"},"envelope":{"attested_hash":"58b981e022c4b29cbe10c129dbc40a9b8d3a0145a1b1b66be8e2576ffe91de34","platform_signature":{"key_id":"c6afc19b31429869751f06879c75cd64ea92654423d15b44be775bf1310a60da","sig":"zoeXhmjadRUF-OJ6oxV_dZHpBYtjq8792cy3Um4s6Ll8qll_CAcru3xr0j5_5pqTFzEK0zHp1kt67dm_vEuwAw"},"schema":"pubphys.envelope/1"},"record_hash":"c85a19ee242a9a516da64933a9cc912dcebe650e278b53e2be87949b4225c8a9","leaf_index":3574}