Journal: Laser and Particle Beams
Editorial of Special Issue: Advances In the Study of Laser-Driven Proton-Boron Fusion
Volume 2023 | Article ID 9824024 |
Introduction: The topic of proton-boron fusion has recently attracted considerable interest in the scientific community, both for its future perspectives for energy production and for nearer-term possibilities to realize high-brightness α-particle sources. Very interesting experimental results have been obtained, in particular in laser-driven experiments but also using other experimental approaches. The goal of this special issue is to collect the most recent developments in experiments, theory, advanced targetry, diagnostics, and numerical simulation codes.
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Looking forward, a European Union COST program has been granted to support the development of the community studying proton-boron fusion: PROBONO (CA21128-proton-boron nuclear fusion: from energy production to medical applications) [21]. This program represents the first attempt to coordinate the research effort across European countries (and several extra-European partners) on pB research. We also call for additional and more systematic support in terms of funding opportunities (both public and private) and policy recognition in order to further develop this research field and the related international cooperation in the near future.
Acknowledgments:
We conclude by warmly thanking all the authors for contributing their work to this special issue and HB11 Energy for supporting the publication of the issue through a financial contribution to the publication charges. We also acknowledge the contributions from many research groups taking part in the COST Action PROBONO (CA21128-proton-boron nuclear fusion: from energy production to medical applications).
Dimitri Batani
Daniele Margarone
Fabio Belloni
