PH7027 - Plasma physics and fusion energy

A graduate level course, offered in semester 1 every year

Overview

This course is an introduction to plasma physics applied to magnetic fusion energy. It will present key nuclear reactions, and the advantages/drawbacks of fusion energy. The course will explain why confining a hot plasma is the best way to produce fusion energy, and how this can be done with intense magnetic fields. In addition, it will introduce the main instabilities that may plague a plasma. Instabilities appear as a potential threat that requires appropriate means of control. Small- scale instabilities lead to a turbulent state that may degrade the confinement properties of a fusion device if not taken care of. Finally, the course will present ways to heat a plasma to reach the conditions needed to start fusion reactions. The course is open to any graduate or under-graduate student with some background in statistical mechanics and electromagnetism. It will also establish connections with other topics such as plasma propulsion, plasma processing, astrophysics and wave propagation in complex media.

Course Contents

  1. Thermonuclear Fusion & Magnetic Configuration
    • Thermonuclear fusion
    • Motion of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field
    • Magnetic configuration
  2. Equilibrium and MHD Stability
    • Tokamaks
    • Plasma equilibrium
    • Controlling a plasma with external magnetic coils
    • Plasma stability
  3. Confinement and Transport
    • Collisional transport
    • Turbulent transport
  4. Plasma Heating
    • Ohmic heating
    • Neutral Beam Injection
    • Wave propagation and radio-frequency heating
  5. Plasma-wall interaction
    • Open field lines and boundary layer
    • A simplified model of the edge boundary layer
    • Operational regimes
    • Impurities and radiative losses
  6. Designing a fusion reactor

Reading and References

  • J. P. Freidberg, “Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy”, (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
  • R. J. Goldston, P. H. Rutherford, “Introduction to plasma physics and controlled fusion” (Taylor & Francis, Inc. 1995)
  • J. D. Jackson, “Classical Electrodynamics”, 3rd edition, (Wiley, New York, 1998)
  • J. Wesson, Tokamaks, 2nd edition, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1997)
  • R.D. Hazeltine and J.D. Meiss, “Plasma Confinement” (Dover, 1992)
  • P. H. Diamond and S-I. Itoh and K. Itoh, “Modern Plasma Physics, vol. 1, Physical Kinetics of Turbulent Plasmas” (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
  • T.H. Stix, “Waves in plasmas”, Springer (1962)
  • P. Stangeby “The plasma boundary of magnetic fusion devices”, IOP Editors (2000)

Contact