Advances in Science of Nuclear Fusion: Novel ideas and approaches

Abstrakt: Recent advances in several physics' domains open up novel, smaller scale, higher energy density opportunities to realize the dream of limitless nuclear fusion energy. I will introduce several "table-top" approaches to fusion and describe novel ideas helping to realize magnetic confinement and inertial confinement fusion. Aneutronic fusion reaction chains are introduced using, as example, the solar fusion cycles. Considering in depth the natural isotopic abundances, I assess more carefully the meaning of the term "limitless energy". Time permitting, I describe my work on muon catalyzed fusion, laser-driven proton-boron fusion, and its extension to boron-nitride reaction cycle. I report on novel opportunities opened up by the plasmonic opto-electric field-enhancement achieved by nano-antennas for light: Nano-structures concentrating laser energy into optical sub quarter-wavelength scale volumes.