FRC Merging Research for Control Systems
Executive Summary
System Metadata
Source ID
DOC-LANL_AFR
Process Date
2/3/2026
Integrity Hash
SHA256-bdnzfuqx654...
Indexer Status
COMPLETE
INVESTIGATIVE ANALYSIS
Layman's Executive Summary
This report examines ten years of plasma physics research to see how it contributed to a complex military control system for managing high-energy collisions. It explains how experiments with merging plasma rings provided the necessary data to build high-speed computers capable of controlling chaotic energy releases.
Document Origin
The document is an assessment report emerging from a collaboration between Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), focusing on research conducted at the University of Washington and MSNW LLC.
Research Purpose
The research was conducted to evaluate the transition from unclassified two-body plasma merging experiments to a theoretical three-body 'Trivergence' system. It sought to determine if existing physics models and computational tools were mature enough to support a real-time, predictive control system for advanced propulsion or pulsed power.
Relevancy Analysis
" This document is a critical piece of evidence for the investigation into advanced aerospace 'black programs' as it connects theoretical fusion research to high-performance hardware specifications. It establishes that the necessary computational power (up to 2.0 TFLOPS) and low-latency control (<20μs) for exotic plasma propulsion were being actively assessed by AFRL and LANL by 2015. "
Extracted Verifiable Claims
- › The Pulsed High Density (PHD) FRC Experiment (circa 2005) aimed for a plasma density of 1×10^22 m−3 and a temperature greater than 1 keV.
- › The Inductive Plasma Accelerator (IPA) experiment at MSNW merged two FRCs at relative velocities up to 600 km/s.
- › The Trivergence Protocol control system requires a bespoke System-on-Chip (SoC) with a control loop latency of less than 20 microseconds (<20μs).
- › The computational load for the system's predictive physics engine is specified between 0.5 and 2.0 Teraflops (TFLOPS).
- › Key research was led by Dr. John Slough and Professor Alan L. Hoffman at the University of Washington's Plasma Physics Laboratory and MSNW LLC.
Technical Contribution
This document identifies the specific technical boundary where academic fusion research ends and classified military engineering begins, specifically naming the 'Trivergence Protocol' as a three-body chaotic control challenge.