Turbulence in tokamaks and the validation of gyrokinetic codes

Alex Creely

PSFC

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

5:00pm

NW17-218

PSFC Student Seminars

In the field of plasma physics and fusion energy, as in many other fields of physics and engineering, numerical simulation has in recent years become an increasingly important tool for prediction and interpretation of experiment.  In particular, gyrokinetic simulations, which model plasma turbulence and the resulting transport of heat and particles, have become an area of active research.  These simulations are used both to understand the fundamental physical processes involved in turbulent transport and to predict the performance of future fusion experiments.  Before one can trust the results of these simulations, however, one must compare their output to real experimental measurements, in order to ensure that the simulations are correctly capturing the physics that they model.  This process is known as validation.  

This talk will describe the methodology behind validation in general, and will then focus specifically on the validation of gyrokinetic simulations of fusion plasmas.  The emphasis will primarily be on the high level comparisons of different measurements, rather than the details of the simulations or of the experimental measurements themselves.