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Anne White

Anne White

Assistant Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering

whitea@psfc.mit.edu
617-253-8667
617-253-0627 (fax)
NW17-111

Education

Ph.D. - Physics, University of California, Los Angeles (2008)
M.S. - Physics, University of California, Los Angeles (2004)
B.S. - Physics and Applied Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson (2003

Teaching

22.67 Principles of Plasma Diagnostics
22.012 Seminar in Fusion & Plasma Physics
22.071j/6.071j Electronics, Signals, & Measurement
8.03 Physics III: Vibrations and Waves (Recitations)

Research

Small fluctuations in tokamak plasmas lead to turbulence, and turbulent eddies can very effectively transport heat from the hot core across confining magnetic field lines out to the cooler plasma edge. Predicting this phenomenon of turbulent-transport is essential for the development of fusion reactors. In order to improve predictive capability by testing and validating models of turbulent-transport, detailed measurements of fluctuations in high-performance, reactor relevant tokamak plasmas are required. Diagnostic techniques that allow for simultaneous measurements of fluctuations in plasma density, temperature, and flows in the core and edge of Alcator C-Mod are presently being developed. With these new measurement capabilities we will improve our understanding of how turbulence is suppressed and how the turbulent-transport of particles, energy and momentum can be separated from one another. The new data from these measurements allow for stringent tests of turbulent-transport models. Close collaboration between experiment, theory and simulation is a key aspect of this work.

Honors and Awards

  • Department of Energy Early Career Award,  2011–2016
  • Marshall N. Rosenbluth Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award, 2009
  • U. S. Department of Energy Fusion Energy Postdoctoral Research Program Fellow, 2008–2009
  • UCLA Graduate Division Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2007–2008
  • U. S. Department of Energy ORISE Fusion Energy Science (FES) Fellowship, 2004–2007

Professional Societies

  • American Physical Society, Division of Plasma Physics (APS-DPP)
  • American Nuclear Society (ANS)

Selected Publications

  1. A. E. White, P. Phillips, D. G. Whyte, A. E. Hubbard, C. Sung, J. W. Hughes, A. Dominguez, J. Terry, and I. Cziegler, “Electron temperature fluctuations associated with the weakly coherent mode in the edge of I-mode plasmas”, Nuclear Fusion, 51 113005 (2011)
  2. A.E. White, N. T. Howard, D. R. Mikkelsen, M. Greenwald, J. Candy, R. E. Waltz, “Feasibility study for a correlation electron cyclotron emission turbulence diagnostic based on nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations”, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 53 ,115003 (2011)
  3. A. E. White, W. A. Peebles, T. L. Rhodes, C. H. Holland, G. Wang, L. Schmitz, T. A. Carter, J. C. Hillesheim, E. J. Doyle, L. Zeng, G. R. McKee, G. M. Staebler, R. E. Waltz, J. C. DeBoo, C. C. Petty, and K. H. Burrell, Measurements of the cross-phase angle between density and electron temperature fluctuations and comparison with gyrokinetic simulations, Physics of Plasmas, 17, 056103 (2010)
  4. A. E. White, L. Schmitz, W. A. Peebles, T. L. Rhodes, T. A. Carter, G. R. McKee, M. W. Shafer, G. M. Staebler, K. H. Burrell, J. C. DeBoo, and R. Prater, "Simultaneous measurement of core electron temperature and density fluctuations during electron cyclotron heating on DIII-D, Physics of Plasmas, 17, 020701 (2010)
  5. C. Holland, A. E. White, G. R. McKee, M. W. Shafer, et al. Implementation and application of two synthetic diagnostics for validating simulations of core tokamakturbulence, Physics of Plasmas, 16, 052301 (2009) .
  6. A. E. White, L. Schmitz, W. A. Peebles, T. A. Carter, et al. A correlation electron cyclotron emission diagnostic and the importance of multifieldfluctuation measurements for testing nonlinear gyrokineticturbulence simulations, Review of Scientific Instruments, 79, 103505 (2008).
  7. A.E. White, L. Schmitz, G. R. McKee, C. H. Holland, et al. Measurements of core electron temperature and density fluctuations in DIII-D and comparison to nonlinear gyrokineticsimulations, Physics of Plasmas, 15, 056116 (2008) .