Separating the sound from the noise in hot plasma fusion
Tuesday, September 11, 2018 - 14:50
in Physics & Chemistry
For fusion power plants to be effective, scientists must find a way to trigger the low-to-high confinement transition, associated with zonal flows of plasma. Theoretically, these consist of both a stationary flow and one that oscillates at the geodesic acoustic mode. For the first time, researchers have detected GAM at two different points simultaneously within the reactor. This experimental setup will aid investigating the physics of zonal flows, and their role in the L-H transition.