Transcript The UW Plasma Physics Group

The UW Plasma
Physics Group
Clint Sprott, Paul Terry,
Ellen Zweibel, Stas
Boldyrev, Dalton Schnack,
Cary Forest, Stewart Prager
Presented to
Introductory Seminar for New
Graduate Students
on September 6, 2007
Plasma Physics


What is a Plasma?
 Ionized gas (kT > a few eV)
 The fourth state of matter
 99% of the universe
History of Plasma Physics
1920’s - Langmuir (vacuum tubes)
 1930’s - Appleton (ionosphere)
 1950’s - Nuclear Fusion
 1960’s - Solar wind, stellar interiors
 1980’s - Industrial applications

Wisconsin Plasma
Physics Program



Began in 1962 by Donald W. Kerst
Present Physics Faculty
 Clint Sprott (computational dynamics)
 Paul Terry (theory)
 Ellen Zweibel - joint with Astronomy (theory)
 Stas Boldyrev (theory)
 Dalton Schnack – part-time (computational)
 Cary Forest (experimental)
 Stewart Prager (experimental)
Plasma Research in other UW Departments
 Stellarator/Torsatron (ECE)
 Spherical Tokamak (EP)
 Fusion Technology Institute (EP)
 Plasma Theory & Computation (EP)
 Plasma Processing (EP)
Plasma Physics Group




Composition
 7 faculty
 11 scientists
 9 postdocs
 28 graduate students
 27 support staff
 + frequent and long-term visitors
 ==> ~ 80 people total
Funding (~$8M year)
~80 Ph.D. graduates over 40 years
 50% at National Labs
 25% at Universities
 25% in Industry
http://plasma.physics.wisc.edu/
Nuclear Fusion

D + T  4He (3.5 MeV) + n (14 MeV)

“Inexhaustible” Source of Energy


D2 in oceans will last 3 x 108 years

1 gal H2) = 1/8 g D2 = 300 gal gasoline
Must contain DT plasma @ kT > 10 keV
for n > 1020 sec/m3 (Coulomb barrier)

Scientific Feasibility Essentially Proven

Much Work Remains

Physics

Technology
What to do if Interested


Come around and get Acquainted
Take Plasma Courses











525 introduction
526 plasma lab (EP)
527 confinement devices
528 plasma processing
724 waves & instabilities
725 plasma kinetic theory
726 magnetohydrodynamics
Plasma Seminar: 12:05 Mon (1227 Engr)
Group Meeting: 4:00 Thurs (5280 Ch)
Summer Jobs Available
Pass Qualifiers
Paul Terry
Turbulence in fusion and astrophysics
Interests (organizing principles):
Physics of coherent structure formation in
turbulence
Role of symmetry-breaking waves
Role of strongly inhomogeneous background
(e.g., shear flow)
Applications:
Transport in fusion plasmas
Interstellar medium
Ellen Zweibel
Stas Boldyrev
Dalton Schnack
Computational Physics
Fluid models of plasmas
Plasmas in astrophysics
Research Interests









Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
Extended MHD (2-fluid/FLR effects)
Fluid models for tokamak plasmas (closures)
Plasma relaxation/dynamo
Large scale computations for fluid plasmas
MHD/RF interactions
Anomalous angular momentum transport in
magnetized plasmas
Structure and heating of the solar corona
Accretion disk coronae
Cary Forest
Stewart Prager