Structure formation and transport in magnetized fusion plasmas

On October 31, 2024, Prof. Fulvio Zonca delivered a significant presentation titled "Structure formation and transport in magnetized fusion plasmas" at ASIPP. The event took place in the main auditorium, filled with enthusiastic scientists and students. Prof. Zonca showcased his expertise by discussing the complexities of plasma dynamics and the balance between magnetic confinement and plasma turbulence under the theory framework of phase space transport.

In Prof. Zonca’s talk, he addressed that burning plasma is a complex self-organized system with many interacting degrees of freedom, which yield a variety of interesting nonlinear behaviors characterized by a broad range of spatiotemporal scales, and that energetic particles play important roles as the mediator of cross-scale couplings. He proposed that, for the development of prediction capability required for ITER-like tokamaks, it is essential to understand the burning plasma nonlinear dynamics on long time scales comparable to energy confinement time. With his collaborators, Prof. Zonca developed the first-principle transport theory based on “Dyson-Schroedinger model”, where the turbulence evolution is described by nonlinear Schroedinger equation, while the self-consistent nonlinear evolution of particle distribution function (phase space zonal structure) is described by the Dyson equation. Examples of applications to cases of practical interest are also given, focusing on simplified paradigmatic cases for illustrating the workflow of the Advanced Transport model for Energetic Particle (ATEP) code. In particular, the case of neutral beam injected particles in ITER is shown, which are redistributed under the action of Coulomb collisions and a fixed amplitude toroidal Alfvén eigenmode.

Prof. Zonca's talk on micro-turbulence in plasma transport was well-received, highlighting its impact on fusion reactor stability and performance.

The session ended with a lively Q&A, prompting engaging discussions that continued post-event. Prof. Zonca's visit significantly contributed to the ASIPP community, fostering new research collaborations and advancing fusion plasma physics understanding.

Text by Victoria Saklakova, Images by Hailin HU