Physics of Magnetic Islands

What are magnetic islands?

• Bubble-like structures that form in fusion plasmas

• Doughnut-shaped tokamak facilities that house fusion reactions

• Large-scale computer simulations used to study fusion reactions

• Plasma conditions from the KSTAR experiments

What can magnetic islands do to fusion plasmas?

• Enhance plasma flow and turbulence

• Maintain plasma confinement while growing

• Prevent disastrous disruptions in fusion reactors

• Damage the doughnut-shaped tokamak facilities

What did the recent research at PPPL overturn?

• Assumptions about the structure and impact of magnetic islands

• The experimental observations made on KSTAR

• The capabilities of the XGC numerical code

• The confinement of plasma around the islands

What did the simulations find about the plasma profile inside the islands?

• It is constant and uniform

• It has a radial structure

• It is strongly sheared in opposite directions

• It is affected by plasma flow and turbulence

What is the potential impact of these findings?

• Preventing disruptions in fusion reactors

• Understanding the physics of plasma disruption

• Generating massive amounts of energy

• Replicating fusion on Earth

Which is NOT a state of matter?

• solid

• liquid

• gas

• rock

What state of matter is a rock?

When you make sounds by plucking a rubber band, you make the rubber band move back and forth very quickly.  This movement is called.

• loudness
• amplitude
• pitch
• vibration