Radiation transport in inhomogeneous media

Calculations of radiation transport in heated materials are greatly complicated by the presence of regions in which two or more materials are inhomogeneously mixed. This phenomenon is important in many systems, such as astrophysical systems where density clumps can be found in star-forming regions and molecular clouds. Laboratory experiments have been designed to test the modeling of radiation transport through inhomogeneous plasmas. A laser-heated hohlraum is used as a thermal source to drive radiation through polymer foam containing randomly distributed gold particles. Experimental measurements of radiation transport in foams with gold particle sizes ranging from 5-9 mu m to submicrometer diameters as well as the homogeneous foam case are presented. The simulation results of the radiation transport are compared to the experiment and show that an inhomogeneous transport model must be applied to explain radiation transport in foams loaded with 5 mu m diameter gold particles. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.