Swiss Plasma Center authors review in Nature Physics

The review, authored by Ambrogio Fasoli and colleagues at EPFL’s Swiss Plasma Center, focuses on computational approaches to modeling and exploiting magnetic-fusion plasmas. Specifically, it overviews the computational challenges to simulate the reaching and control of the burning-plasma regime.

Given the complex nature of plasmas, and their extremely wide range of spatial and time scales, the scientists highlight the need for sophisticated numerical techniques and algorithms and state-of-the-art, high-performance computers when trying to model them with realistic configurations.

However, there is a common thread among different models: the charged particles constituting the plasma are sources of electromagnetic fields and subject to the action of electromagnetic fields.

Drawing from their own expertise, the authors look at specific aspects of plasmas: the global equilibrium and stability of a tokamak, global equilibrium and stability of 3D configurations, heating and current drive by waves, core-plasma transport, edge transport and plasma–wall interactions, and finally fast ions. Though not meant to be systematic, the review looks at tokamaks and stellarators from the standpoint of numerical predictions and applications for plasma control and optimization.

Reference

Fasoli A, Brunner S, Cooper WA, Graves JP, Ricci P, Sauter O, Villard L. Computational challenges in magnetic-confinement fusion physics. Nature Physics 03 May 2016, 411–423 (2016) DOI: 10.1038/nphys3744.