The slowing of alpha particles in a thermonuclear plasma

A direct calculation of the Fokker-Planck equation is used to study the behavior of alpha particles in a deuterium-tritium plasma. The time dependence of the alpha particle distribution function is presented for electron and ion temperatures of 30 keV; the time dependence of energy transferred by alpha particles to electrons and ions is studied for different electron and ion temperatures. The results are compared with those obtained by simplified calculations carried out under the assumption that the monochromaticity of the alpha-particle beam is conserved.