Paul Rivenberg, Abhay Ram, Martin Greenwald
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions
This series introduces plasma physics research and areas of related interest at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. See URL below.
Sponsor(s): Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Contact: Paul Rivenberg, NW16-284, x3-8101, rivenberg@psfc.mit.edu
| Jan/07 | Mon | 11:00AM-12:00PM | NW17-218 |
An Overview of Numerical Simulations of Fusion and Space Plasmas: Magnetized plasmas are an important constituent of the universe, but are so complex that deep understanding can only be achieved with the aid of large-scale computation. This talk will review how we can learn about the behavior of fusion and space plasmas from numerical simulation.
Barrett Rogers - Professor of Physics and Astronomy
| Jan/08 | Tue | 11:00AM-12:00PM | NW17-218 |
Fusion, which powers the stars, could be a game-changing energy source for our ever-developing planet, with potential to deliver sizable amounts of useful energy with relatively low environmental impact. This talk will introduce the basic concepts of today's magnetic fusion experiments, and shed light on where fusion research and development are likely to take us over the next generation.
Jerry Hughes - Research Scientist
| Jan/08 | Tue | 02:00PM-03:00PM | NW17-218 |
Magnetic Reconnection - A Celestial Phenomena in the Laboratory: What do Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) from the Sun, the occurrence of Auroras (Northern light) and the VTF experiment at MIT have in common? VTF simulates the magnetic field explosions in the solar corona and the Earth's magnetosphere, unlocking the secrets of the most violent phenomena in our solar system.
Jan Egedal - Associate Professor of Physics
| Jan/09 | Wed | 11:00AM-12:00PM | NW17-218 |
Exploring Astrophysical Phenomenon with Lasers in the Laboratory: Unique, scaled laboratory experiments in laser-matter interactions have been used to explain and quantify properties of several astrophysical phenomena. The resulting discoveries provide important insight into frontier astrophysics and represent a significant advance in addressing critical astrophysics issues in the laboratory
Chikang Li - Research Scientist
| Jan/09 | Wed | 02:00PM-03:00PM | NW17-218 |
The National Ignition Facility at LLNL is a 1.8 MJ, 192 beam laser designed to produce the conditions of temperature and density in compressed deuterium-tritium ice that theory predicted would produce thermonuclear ignition. Moving towards starting ignition experiments, NIF recently completed its first implosion campaign. Learn the results and what lies ahead.
Joe Kilkenny - Research Scientist
| Jan/10 | Thu | 11:00AM-12:00PM | NW17-218 |
The C-Mod tokamak is a major magnetic fusion experiment located on the MIT campus. It is the premier facility in the world for studying the interactions between the boundary plasma, operating at at temperatures above 1,000,000 K, with the first wall, made of material at ordinary temperatures.
Bruce Lipschultz - Research Scientist
| Jan/10 | Thu | 01:30PM-02:30PM | NW17-218 |
Visit the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, a well-tested approach to fusion research that has direct applications to ITER, the world's largest tokamak, currently under construction in France.
Session Leaders TBD
| Jan/14 | Mon | 11:00AM-12:00PM | NW17-218 |
Hurricanes - Their Physics and Relationship to Climate: Hurricanes are elegant examples of heat engines operating very near Carnot's theoretical limit of efficiency. After describing the energetics, structure, and climatology of these storms, Prof. Emanuel will discuss how they change in response to changing climate.
Kerry Emmanuel - Cecil and Ida Green Professor
| Jan/14 | Mon | 02:00PM-03:00PM | NW17-218 |
Taming Turbulence in Magnetized Plasmas - From Plasmas for Fusion Energy to Black Hole Accretion Discs: Turbulence is usually the most important mechanism for transporting energy and mass in magnetized plasmas. This talk will cover instabilities and turbulence in magnetized plasmas and their relevance to achieving magnetic confinement fusion in the laboratory, and to understanding processes in astrophysical plasmas.
Troy Carter - Associate Professor of Physics