Mathematical Noodling Leads to New Insights Into an Old Fusion Problem

martyb writes:

Mathematical noodling leads to new insights into an old fusion problem:

A challenge to creating fusion energy on Earth is trapping the charged gas known as plasma that fuels fusion reactions within a strong magnetic field and keeping the plasma as hot and dense as possible for as long as possible. Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have gained new insight into a common type of hiccup known as the sawtooth instability that cools the hot plasma in the center and interferes with the fusion reactions. These findings could help bring fusion energy closer to reality.

"Conventional models explain most instances of the sawtooth crashes, but there is a tenacious subset of observations that we have never been able to explain," said PPPL physicist Christopher Smiet, lead author of a paper reporting the results in Nuclear Fusion. "Explaining those unusual occurrences would fill a gap in understanding the sawtooth phenomenon that has existed for almost 40 years."

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