Comparison for non-local hydrodynamic thermal conduction models

Inertial confinement fusion and specifically shock ignition involve temperatures and temperature gradients for which the classical Spitzer-Harm thermal conduction breaks down and a non-local operator is required. In this article, two non-local electron thermal conduction models are tested against kinetic Vlasov-Fokker-Planck simulations. Both models are shown to reproduce the main features of thermal heat front propagation at kinetic timescales. The reduction of the thermal conductivity as a function of the scalelength of the temperature gradient is also recovered. Comparisons at nanosecond timescales show that the models agree on the propagation velocity of the heat front, but major differences appear in the thermal precursor. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4789878]