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Applied Plasma Physics and Fusion Engineering The
field of Applied Plasma Physics and Fusion Engineering, as partial preparation
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, covers the subject
matter described below. Minimum Preparation for Major Field
Students Examination The
Major Field Examination is an eight hour examination covering material
from the syllabus. Part of the examination will cover material in the
core; all students are responsible for this pan. The remainder of the
examination will cover material from the elective sections of the syllabus.
In advance of the examination, each student shall inform his adviser
of the core elective topics on which he wishes to be tested. Syllabus for the Major Field Core
Topics
I.
Fundamentals of plasma
physics (MAE M185)
A.
Particle motion in
electromagnetic field; adiabatic invariants
B.
Fluid equations and
diamagnetic drifts
C.
Debye shielding; plasma
sheaths
D.
Maxwell's equations
in the plasma; the equivalent dielectric tensor
E.
Electrostatic and electromagnetic
plasma waves at principal angles to a magnetic field; cutoffs and resonances
F.
Diffusion in partially
ionized gases
G.
Resistivity and diffusion
in fully ionized gases; In A. factor; magnetic viscosity
H.
Magnetohydrodynamic
{MHD) theory
1.
Single-fluid equations
2.
Hydromagnetic equilibrium
in confinement geometries
3.
Basic types of instabilities
I.
Kinetic theory; Vlasov
equation and Landau damping
J.
Anomalous transport
processes K. Basic diagnostic techniques
II.
Fundamentals of fusion
engineering (MAE 137)
A.
Fusion reactions and
fuel cycles; thermonuclear conditions; Lawson and ignition criteria
B.
Magnetic mirror confinement:
tandem mirrors, energy and particle flows, power balance
C.
Toroidal magnetic confinement:
tokamak, stellarator, reversed-field pinch
D.
Start-up and burning-plasma
analysis
E.
Inertial confinement
laser and particle beam drivers; concepts of compression, central ignition,
and burn-wave propagation
F.
Fusion blanket design
and nuclear analysis; tritium breeding: induced radioactivity
G.
Fission-fusion hybrids
H.
Tritium: inventor,
methods of recovery
I.
Magnets: superconductivity;
structural design
J.
Radiation damage to
materials: influence on design
K.
Designs of fusion reactors
Elective Topics
III.
Linear waves in uniform
plasmas (EE28SA)
A.
Waves in cold and warm
plasmas: CMA diagram; phase velocity surfaces; polarization and particle
orbits;
B.
Electromagnetic waves:
ordinary and extraordinary waves, Appleton-Hartree formula, microwave
diagnostics. Alfven waves whistlers, e.m., cyclotron waves
C.
Electrostatic waves:
Bohm-Gross waves, ion acoustic waves. two-ion hybrid waves, e.g. cyclotron
waves
D.
Wave packets and group
velocity in anisotropic media; resonance cones
E.
Waves in hot plasmas:
Bernstein modes. cyclotron harmonics, Landau and cyclotron damping
F.
Damping and excitation
of waves: resistivity. viscosity, neutral collisions, resonant particles;
grids, coils
G.
Waves in bounded plasmas;
Trivelpiece-Gould modes
H.
Accessibility and tunneling
I.
R. F. heating of plasmas
J.
Tonks-Dattner resonances
IV.
Waves and instabilities
in non-uniform plasmas (EE28SB)
A.
Beam-plasma interactions;
convective and absolute instabilities
B.
Streaming instabilities;
Penrose criterion; current-driven instabilities
C.
Energy and momentum
of waves; positive and negative energy waves
D.
Drift waves and universal
instabilities
E.
Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities
F.
Instabilities in partially
ionized gases (Simon-Hoh. Kadomtsev-Nedospasov)
G.
Wave propagation in
inhomogeneous plasmas: Budden tunneling, resonance absorption
H.
Ponderomotive force.
optical mixing, parametric decay and OTS, stimulated Brillouin and Raman
scattering, filamentation, two-plasmon decay; saturation mechanisms
I.
Nonlinear waves; Kortweg-deVries
and nonlinear Schrödinger equations; shock waves, solitons
J.
Quasilinear diffusion
V.
Magnetic confinement
of plasmas (EE286'MAE237 A)
A.
MHD equilibrium: simple
axisymmetric configurations, virial theorem, force-free fields, rotational
transform and toroidal equilibrium; Grad-Shafranov equation
B.
MHD stability: energy
principle. interchange and kink instabilities, Suydam criterion, Kroskal
limit, shear, and min-B stabilization. finite Larmor radius stabilization
C.
Microinstabilities:
drift, ballooning, tearing, and trapped particle modes
D.
Toroidal confinement
1.
Tokamaks: banana orbits,
q and Q, islands, sawteeth, Mirnov oscillations, disruptions, impurity
diffusion, runaway electrons, Alcator and Murakami scaling, elongated
cross sections, flux conservation, profile consistency
2.
Neoclassical and Pfirsch-Schlüter
diffusion
3.
Convective and poloidal
Bohm diffusion
4.
Minimum-B devices:
multipoles, spherators, levitrons
E.
Mirror confinement
1.
Ioffe bars, min-K principle
2.
Velocity space diffusion
and electron drag
3.
The DCLC instability
and its control
4.
Tandem mirrors, axisymmetric
plugs, thermal barriers
5.
Field reversal; compact
torus
F.
Plasma heating; ohmic
heating, neutral beam injection, rf heating and current drive, magnetic
pumping
VI.
Plasma diagnostics
(Phys. 180E. EE282B. EE289S)
A.
Faraday rotation, microwave
interferometry and scattering
B.
Langmuir probes
C.
Neutral and ion beam
probes
D.
Magnetic probes, Rogowski
coils. diamagnetic loops
E.
Optical and uv spectroscopy
F.
Soft x-ray diagnostics
G.
Synchrotron radiation
H.
Particle detectors
and velocity analyzers
I.
Laser diagnostics:
Thomson scattering and holography in the far-IR, IR, and visible
VII.
Fusion plasma physics
and analysis (MAE237B/EE287)
A.
Plasma energy and particle
balance
B.
Radiation processes:
bremsstrahlung, synchrotron and recombination radiation
C.
Atomic processes in
plasmas; impurities
D.
Fokker-Planck equation;
equilibrium and slowing down rates
E.
Plasma heating; neutral
beam injection
F.
Plasma burn modes;
burn kinetics and thermal stability; Q calculation of driven plama reactors
G.
Mirror reactor physics;
tandem mirror burn dynamics
H.
Tokamak reactor physics;
β limits, transport, start-up and burn dynamics
VIII.
Plasma engineering and technology (MAE237B/EE287,
MAE237C/EE288)
A.
Plasma-surface interactions
B.
Physics and technology
of limiters, divertors, and direct converters
C.
Plasma fueling
D.
Technology of plasma
heating: neutral beams. rf. lasers, pulsed power, heavy ion accelerators
IX.
Fusion engineering and reactor design (MAE237C/EE288)
A.
Fusion reactor concepts
and designs)
B.
Neutronics: nuclear
responses, nuclear heating, radioactivity
C.
Fuel cycle: function,
description, analysis
D.
Blanket function and
design
E.
Self-cooled liquid
metal blankets
F.
Solid breeder blankets
G.
In-vessel components;
first wall, limiter, divertor
H.
Radiation shielding:
design and analysis
I.
Magnet systems: normal
and superconducting magnet design, cryogenic stability, radiation effects
X.
Nuclear fuel element
behavior (MAE236A)
A.
Fuel swelling due to
fission gases
B.
Pore migration and
fuel restructuring kinetics
C.
Fission gas release
D.
Mechanical properties
of fuel materials
E.
Structural behavior
of fuel elements and assemblies
XI.
Radiation damage in
reactor materials (MAE236B)
A.
Ion transport in solids
B.
Theory of collision
cascades
C.
Ion ranges
D.
Damage and ion distributions
E.
Backscattering and
reflection
F.
Sputtering and blistering
G.
Displacement damage
H.
Microstructure evolution
and kinetic behavior
I.
Relationship to mechanical
properties
J.
Embrittlement, swelling,
irradiation creep
XII.
Nuclear reactor theory
(MAE235A)
A.
Physics and mathematics
of fission reactor core design
B.
Diffusion theory
C.
Reactor kinetics
D.
Slowing down and thermalization
E.
Multigroup method
F.
Cell calculations for
heterogeneous core lattices
XIII.
Kinetic theory of plasmas and particle
transport (MAE235B)
A.
Transport phenomena
B.
Liouville equation,
Boltzmann collision integral and H-theorem
C.
Fokker-Planck, neutron
and radiation transport equations
D.
Fluid moment equations
E.
Dispersion relations
F.
Space and time relaxation
phenomena
XIV.
Reactor thermal hydraulic design (MAE136)
A.
Thermal hydraulic design
of various nuclear power reactor concepts
B.
Power cycles
C.
Power generation and
heat removal
D.
Thermal and hydraulic
and component design
E.
Overall plant design
F. |