Polarization REsearch for Fusion Experiments and Reactors - The PREFER collaboration: aims, goals and present status

The PREFER (Polarization REsearch for Fusion Experiments and Reactors) collaboration was created to improve the know–how in different fields and techniques and to address the challenging bet on fusion energy production with polarized fuel. Efforts are focused on a variety of tasks and objectives, which are under the responsibility of different institutes. Starting from open questions in the fusion reaction physics, such as the study of D+D spin–dependent cross–sections to measurements of nuclear polarization conservation in laser–induced fusion plasmas, there is still unexplored territory to discover. The collaboration aims to produce nuclear–spin polarized molecules, recombined from polarized atomic beams, and their condensation and transport, or explore a resonance (“Sona”) transition technique, which promises sufficient intensity for the feeding of fusion reactors. Other options of production are investigated, like nuclear–spin polarization of molecules by laser or microwave excitation. The presentation provides the status of proposals and investigations in the European community.