Computational challenges in magnetic-confinement fusion physics

• Published in: Nature physics Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 411 - 423
• Main Authors: Fasoli, A., Brunner, S., Cooper, W. A., Graves, J. P., Ricci, P., Sauter, O., Villard, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 01.05.2016
• Subjects: Algorithms; Computational fluid dynamics; Current density; Electromagnetic fields; Fluid flow; Fluids; Fusion; Magnetism; Mathematical models; Plasma physics; Plasmas
• ISSN: 1745-2473; 1745-2481
• DOI: 10.1038/nphys3744

Magnetic-fusion plasmas are complex self-organized systems with an extremely wide range of spatial and temporal scales, from the electron-orbit scales (1011 s, 105 m) to the diusion time of electrical current through the plasma (102 s) and the distance along the magnetic eld between two solid surfaces in the region that determines the plasmawall interactions (100 m). The description of the individual phenomena and of the nonlinear coupling between them involves a hierarchy of models, which, when applied to realistic congurations, require the most advanced numerical techniques and algorithms and the use of state-of-the-art high-performance computers. The common thread of such models resides in the fact that the plasma components are at the same time sources of electromagnetic elds, via the charge and current densities that they generate, and subject to the action of electromagnetic elds. This leads to a wide variety of plasma modes of oscillations that resonate with the particle or fluid motion and makes the plasma dynamics much richer than that of conventional, neutral fluids.