99553 - PLASMA PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS M

Learning outcomes

The module has his focus on theory and practice. It is dedicated to the tools for the modelling of some critical characteristics of the plasma in nuclear fusion test devices. The underlying mathematical, physics and programming aspects are taken into account, from the study of interacting charged particles to the plasma modelling in an electromagnetic field, plasma waves, plasma macroscopic equations, MHD and classical instabilities issues with respect to the codes devoted to plasma behaviour analysis. As main outcome the student will have a knowledge of the main issues related to thermonuclear plasmas confinement (instabilities, transport coefficients, waves) and, finally, will learn the use of some numerical tools for the evaluation of the main parameters for the analysis of plasma confinement.

Course contents

Section I: Introductory Remarks

1) Nuclear data and cross-sections libraries

Section II: Plasma Physics

1. Introduction to Controlled Nuclear Fusion Devices
2. Plasma Parameters
3. Kinetic Theory of Plasmas
4. Vlasov Equation
5. Landau Damping
6. Drift Phenomena
7. Magnetic Mirrors
8. Collision terms
9. Transport coefficients meaning and modeling
10. Moments of the Boltzmann Equation
11. Macroscopic Equations
12. One & Two Fluid Model
13. Magnetic Confinement
14. Wave Propagation
15. Particle In Cell (PIC) simulation codes
16. Plasma confinement codes

Practical sessions devoted to programming in FORTRAN, C and Python in a Linux environment.

Readings/Bibliography

1. C. K. Birdsall, A. B. Langdon, Plasma Physics via Computer Simulation, Adam Hilger, 1991
2. T. M Boyd, J. J. Sanderson, The Physics of Plasmas, Cambridge University Press, 2003
3. N. A. Krall,A. W. Trivelpiece, Principles of Plasma Physics, Mc Graw Hill, 1973
4. F. F. Chen, Introduction to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Springer, 1984
5. William Emrich, Jr., Principles of Nuclear Rocket Propulsion, Elsevier, 2016
6. R. G. McClarren, Computational Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Science using Python, Academic Press, 2018

Teaching methods

• Frontal Instruction
• Experiential learning trough numerical exercises through the implementation and use of open source modeling codes.

The module is part of the University of Bologna innovative teaching project.

Assessment methods

Prepare a project on plasma device simulations using reference codes

Teaching tools

Open source computer codes. Particle In Cell plasma simulation codes and equilibrium plasma configuration modelling in Tokamaks (Grad-Shafranov equation solvers).

Office hours

See the website of Marco Sumini