Graduate and Undergraduate Research Opportunities in the Fusion Research Center

The Fusion Research Center is involved in studying the physics of plasmas, the fourth state of matter. Our program has four major components:

1. TURBULENCE AND TRANSPORT IN HOT PLASMAS.
   We use plasmas produced by the C-MOD (at MIT), DIII-D (at General Atomics), and HT-7 (in the PRC) tokamaks. The objective is to explore the reasons for so-called 'anomalous transport', still unexplained after 50 years of research. Opportunities and funding exist for experimental graduate research.
   
   
2. Helimak.
   This experiment provides a simplified magnetic geometry, closely related to one often used in numerical studies, that provides a good realization of magntized turbulence, direct control of the key experimental paramters including flows, and capability for measuring all important plasma parameters.The simple magnetic geometry has a primary toroidal field of 0.1 T with a variable vertical field of 1% to 5% of the toroidal field. The resulting field lines form a tight spiral from the bottom to the top of the machine. By allowing current to flow between the top and bottom boundaries, this configuration has a stable equilibrium. Although it is not a confinement configuration -- the field lines do not form closed surfaces -- the length between plates exceeds the characterstic lengths, including collisional mean-free-path, so that the turbulence becomes characterstic of an infinite system. This is an experimental realization of the curved, sheared slab model, one of the simplest theoretical models with sufficient complexity to be broadly interesting. The essential physical characteristcs of this plasma are also identical to those in the edge region of typical fusion confinement experiments, but the geometry here is much simpler and more tractable. Because the configuration also matches that found in tokamaks when initial ionization is produced by radiation at the electron cycltron frequency, there is a thorough experimental basis for thedesign.
   
3. The Linear Machine TLM.
   We are designing and building a linear device, whose initial purpose is to study the role of rotation velocity on turbulence, and to develop diagnostics. Our intent is for this machine to develop into a test-bed for new ideas. Opportunities exist for both graduate and undergraduate research, starting with designing and building this device.
   
   
4. Plasma Processing.
   We have initiated a program in collaboration with the Chemical Engineering Department to study the physics of these plasmas. Opportunities exist for graduate research.
   
   
5. NASA Plasma Propulsion.
   We are initiating a collaboration with NASA in Houston, where a modified mirror machine is being developed as a tunable exhaust plasma rocket. Funded opportunities are expected for graduate research into plasma propulsion, in particular diagnosing the exhaust plume characteristics and its separation from the magnetic field.