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Mulrti-scale Plasma Turbulence — the key to fusion power.
Abstract:
Without plasma turbulence, we would already have self-sustaining magnetic fusion machines. The turbulent convective loss of heat dominates plasma confinement and thus dictates the required scale of fusion devices. Calculating this multi-scale turbulence, which spans large ranges of scale in five dimensions of phase space, is a monumental achievement that has only recently become possible—just within the last decade. I will describe the multi-scale approach that enabled this progress and outline the critical issues that still need to be resolved.
Steven Cowley - Bio
Steven Cowley
Steven Cowley is a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy. He’s laboratory director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, which is managed by Princeton University where Cowley is also professor of astrophysical sciences. He’s also chair of the Board of Trustees for the Faraday Institution.
Prior to his current positions, Cowley was president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Cowley previously was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.