Energetic Particles
Advancing the understanding of energetic particles and runaway electrons in fusion plasmas through predictive modeling, simulation, transport studies and instability mitigation in fusion devices.
IFS research on energetic particles includes theory, modeling and simulation of energetic ions and disruption-generated runaway electrons. Goals include: (i) predictive, uncertainty-quantified transport models linking turbulence, pedestal and fast-ion physics. (ii) Transport of alpha-particles in tokamaks and stellarators in plasma burning scenarios; (iii) physics of energetic particles modes; (iv) performance optimization with respect to energetic particle-driven instabilities, and (v) physics of runaway electrons created during disruptions and methods for controlling them in next generation tokamaks. Specific research goals include updating the gyro-fluid code FAR3d to include the perturbed parallel component of the magnetic field. Revisit the radiative damping theory for AEs in low-shear plasmas. Calculate the plasma linear response to perturbations of arbitrary frequency and wavelength for axisymmetric equilibrium configurations. Perform studies of transport and phase space evolution of EPs during the saturation phase of Alfven Eigenmodes (AE) in DIII-D plasmas, using the gyro-fluid code FAR3d and the tracer code TAPAS. Analysis of AE and fish-bones stability in DT JET plasmas, and numerical verification of the shear flow generation in LHD.