Position: 3rd Year PhD student

Supervisor: Dr. Erwin Verwichte

Project title: Fast ion transport and losses by Compressional Alfvén Waves in Fusion Plasmas

Background: MMathPhys, University of Warwick (2016)

Project Outline:

My interest is in compressional Alfvén eigenmodes (CAEs): high-frequency fast magnetoacoustic waves near the ion cyclotron frequency, which are localised within a wave guide inside the tokamak governed by the radial Alfvén speed profile. They are driven unstable by super-Alfvénic ions and contribute to the redistribution and losses of fast fusion-born ions.

To model these waves a linear stability code is being developed for CAEs that solves the MHD wave equation. The Hall term is kept in the MHD equations as ion dynamics are a necessary inclusion. The fast ions will be modelled initially using a test particle code with time-varying fields, to which the effects of collisions with the bulk plasma may be added in the future.