Symmetries

Lecture 1: Hidden Symmetries and Fusion Energy

Prof. Amitava Bhattacharjee, Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University

Jun 5, 14:30 - 15:30

B20 Auditorium

Hidden Symmetries Fusion energy

The most compelling transformational use of magnetically confined, high-temperature plasma is to realize sustained fusion energy. The tokamak, which is the leading magnetic confinement concept in the world today, first realized in 1958, has the geometry of a torus and toroidal symmetry, giving it good confinement properties. Nevertheless, the tokamak has a number of unresolved stability issues related to its current-carrying plasma that may be obstacles to its ultimate success. In contrast, in the stellarator, the confining magnetic field is mostly produced by external current-carrying coils.