Events During the Week of September 27th through October 4th, 2020
Monday, September 28th, 2020
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- in present experiments
- Time: 12:00 pm
- Place: Zoom Meeting
- Speaker: Dr. Alberto Loarte, Head of Science Division of the ITER Organization
- Abstract: The ITER project aims to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power for peaceful purposes and to gain the knowledge necessary for the design of next stage fusion reactors. The project is organized as an international research and development project with seven Members; the European Union (represented by EURATOM), Japan, the People’s Republic of China, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA. The overall aim of the ITER project is reflected in its three fusion power production goals (Q ≥ 10 gain for 300-500 s, Q ≥ 5 for 1000s and Q ≥ 5 for 3000s corresponding to steady-state tokamak operation) and associated fusion technology demonstration.
To define the plan of research and development and of the exploitation of the facility necessary to meet the ITER mission goals, the ITER Research Plan (IRP) has been elaborated. The IRP is divided into two main phases after First Plasma demonstration: operation in H/He plasmas (Pre-Fusion Plasma Operation (PFPO)) and in DD/DT plasmas (Fusion Plasma Operation (FPO)). These two main phases are subdivided into experimental campaigns, separated by further assembly phases, in which the tokamak ancillary systems (heating and current drive, fuelling, etc.) are progressively implemented to their baseline configurations to be completed before FPO (“Staged Approach”). The IRP describes the objectives of each operational campaign consistent with the available tokamak systems, details the experimental plan to achieve them (including options), and identifies the main risks of the experimental plan to achieve the objectives of each phase and corresponding mitigation actions.
The main physics objectives of the two initial experimental campaigns (PFPO-1 and PFPO-2) are the achievement of high confinement plasmas (H-mode) and the demonstration of plasma operation up to the ITER design values for plasma current (15 MA) and toroidal field (5.3T) in L-mode plasmas. These experiments will characterize for the first time energy and particle confinement in a tokamak plasma at the reactor scale, to compare with the extrapolations made on the basis of present experiments that have been used for the ITER design. The FPO campaigns cover a long operational period from the start of DD plasma operation, with the principal objectives being the demonstration of the Q = 10 inductive operation and Q = 5 operation with in-principle steady-state conditions. The experimental plan to proceed from DD towards DT plasmas builds on the results expected to be achieved in PFPO. It includes a verification of the L-mode 15 MA development path demonstrated in PFPO and the initial expansion of the H-mode operational space in DD plasmas from low values of current and toroidal field. This is followed by a gradual evolution toward DT plasmas with increasing T content plasmas leading to a demonstration of Q = 10 operation for a duration of 50 s. This initial phase is then followed by experimental campaigns focused on increasing the burn length of the inductive Q = 10 scenario towards the objective of 300-500s and the development of the in-principle steady-state Q = 5 scenarios, where the optimization of the pressure and plasma current profiles will be a main focus of the experimental programme.
The presentation will introduce the ITER project, describe progress in the construction of the ITER tokamak device and its ancillary systems and will describe the experimental and modelling R&D required to support the refinement or consolidation of the IRP in advance of its execution in ITER itself.
PAUL W TERRY is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
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Meeting ID: 991 5610 7574
Passcode: 883688
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Meeting ID: 991 5610 7574
Passcode: 883688
- Host: Paul Terry
Tuesday, September 29th, 2020
- PGSC Professional Development Seminar
- PGSC phenomeNal Open Graduate Seminar
- Time: 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm
- Place:
- Speaker: Greg Loges, Physics PhD Graduate Student
- Abstract: Slogging through the Swampland
Overview: The Landscape of quantum gravity-derivable theories is surrounded on all sides by a vast, quantum gravity-incompatible Swampland. The aim of the Swampland program is to understand those features which can be used to distinguish these two different regions. In this talk I will give a brief introduction to recent progress in our understanding of quantum gravity and its implications for low-energy physics. I will focus on the weak gravity conjecture and present an overview of our recent work in which we use black hole thermodynamics to understand the role of symmetries in demonstrating the conjecture. - Council Meeting
- Time: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- Place: Virtual
- Speaker: Sridhara Dasu, UW-Madison
- Host: Sridhara Dasu, Department Chair
Wednesday, September 30th, 2020
- Wisconsin Quantum Institute
- CQE Seminar Series: A Commercial Perspective on Quantum Networks
- Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Place: Virtual; contact quantum@uchicago.edu for login info
- Speaker: Warren Grice, Vice President of Research and Development, Quibitekk
- Abstract: In the same way that today’s networks connect computing, sensing, and security assets to enhance their collective capabilities, quantum networks will one day do the same for quantum devices. The challenge of building a functional quantum network is formidable and will require contributions from the government, academic, and commercial sectors. Although there have been many technological advances in recent years, no one knows exactly what an eventual quantum network will look like. As a result, the quantum networks landscape today is a mixture of opportunity and uncertainty. Qubitekk is a small quantum technology company that is developing components that will one day be used in quantum networks. This talk will include a review of some of Qubitekk’s development efforts most relevant to quantum networks.
- Department Meeting
- Time: 12:15 pm - 1:30 pm
- Place: Virtual see "abstract" for connection info
- Speaker: Sridhara Dasu, Department Chair, UW-Madison
- Meeting Coordinates: Meeting number: 120 392 9242 Password: Q5EjaTz3Pk3 (75352893 from phones) Join by video system Dial 1203929242@uwmadison.webex.com You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number. Join by phone +1-415-655-0001 US Toll +1-312-535-8110 United States Toll (Chicago) Access code: 120 392 9242
- Host: Sridhara Dasu, Department Chair
Thursday, October 1st, 2020
- Cosmology Journal Club
- Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Abstract: Cosmology Journal Club is back! We will be having virtual meetings this semester.
Each week, we start with a couple scheduled 15 minute talks about one's research, or an arXiv paper. The last 30 minutes will typically be open to the group for anyone to discuss an arXiv paper.
All are welcome and all fields of cosmology are appropriate.
Contact Ross Cawthon, cawthon@wisc, for more information.
Zoom info
Meeting ID: 93592708053, passcode: cmbadger
Or click:
- Astronomy Colloquium
- "What we learn when we're careful: the power of Seismic Stellar Evolution"
- Time: 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
- Place: Zoom meeting(see Abstract ) Coffee and tea 3:45pm, Talk 4:00 PM
- Speaker: Meridith Joyce, ANU
- Abstract: Betelgeuse is closer than we thought, but we're safe from its end-of-life explosion for at least the next ten thousand years. In the meantime, we see the future of the Sun unfold in real time through the dying breaths of T Ursae Minoris. Nearby, Alpha Centauri A and B offer rare insight into the inner workings of stellar convection---an opportunity once afforded only by the Sun. And across the sky, young stars reveal their ages via their oscillation spectra. These are just a few of the things we have learned in the last 2 years thanks to Gaia, TESS, and seismic stellar evolution: a modeling technique that exploits multi-timescale simulations of the evolution and structure of stars. In this talk, I will discuss the novel ways in which I combine precision stellar evolution calculations with seismic perturbations and a rigorous treatment of observational and theoretical uncertainties to build predictive timelines of variable stars, revise best estimates for the fundamental parameters of our most important calibrators, and conquer highly degenerate modeling problems to derive a more precise radius for Betelgeuse than can be obtained from interferometry. Zoom Link: Meeting ID: 885 1389 6776 Passcode: 713070
- Host: Richard Townsend, Astronomy Department Chair
Friday, October 2nd, 2020
- Graduate Introductory Seminar (Physics 701)
- Astrophysics and Cosmology Experiment
- Time: 12:05 pm - 12:55 pm
- Place: BBCollaborate
- Speaker: Peter Timbie, UW Madison Department of Physics
- Host: Sridhara Dasu
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
- Gradient effects on false vacuum decay in gauge theory
- Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
- Place: For zoom link, sign up at:
- Speaker: Juan S. Cruz, Technical University Munich
- Abstract: We study false vacuum decay for a gauged complex scalar field in a polynomial potential with nearly degenerate minima. Radiative corrections to the profile of the nucleated bubble as well as the full decay rate are computed in the planar thin-wall approximation using the effective action. This allows to account for the inhomogeneity of the bounce background and the radiative corrections in a self-consistent manner. In contrast to scalar or fermion loops, for gauge fields one must deal with a coupled system that mixes the Goldstone boson and the gauge fields, which considerably complicates the numerical calculation of Green's functions. In addition to the renormalization of couplings, we employ a covariant gradient expansion in order to systematically construct the counterterm for the wave-function renormalization. The result for the full decay rate however does not rely on such an expansion and accounts for all gradient corrections at the chosen truncation of the loop expansion. The ensuing gradient effects are shown to be of the same order of magnitude as non-derivative one-loop corrections.
- Host: Lars Aalsma
- Department Coffee Hour
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
- Place:
- Abstract: Guest speaker Andrea Lawson from the Employee Assistance Office (EAO) will join us for a facilitated dialogue about mental health and taking care of ourselves during the pandemic. EAO serves faculty, staff, and graduate assistants. Andrea Lawson is an LCSW with 13 years of experience in mental health on university campuses. Most of her career has been supporting student mental health and wellbeing as a clinician and administrator, and she is pleased to join the Employee Assistance Office at UW–Madison to shift focus to the needs of employees for personal and work-related concerns. Her areas of interest are in management consulting, wellness, inclusion, mental health, interpersonal dynamics, graduate students, groups and identity development. She seeks to attend to intersecting identities and power dynamics and to cultivate space where clients can be their full selves.
- Host: Department