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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
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SEQUENCE:2
UID:UW-Physics-Event-9391
DTSTART:20250915T170000Z
DTEND:20250915T180000Z
DTSTAMP:20260413T084215Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250915T135202Z
LOCATION:2241 Chamberlin Hall
SUMMARY:Plasma physics\, results\, and learnings from the first year o
 f WHAM’s operation\, Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar\, J
 ay Anderson\, UW Madison
DESCRIPTION:WHAM has just completed its first year of operation\, beco
 ming the first fusion experiment to combine high-temperature-supercond
 ucting coils with MW-scale plasma heating systems in confining a relat
 ively small (a ~ 15 cm\, L = 2 m) plasma.  Applying 17 T on the plasma
  in the mirror throat (a world record in magnetic confinement fusion r
 esearch) presents a broad 4 T contour in the plasma to enable fundamen
 tal ECH at 110 GHz with access to high density operation.  Indeed\, WH
 AM’s achieved operational space spans central electron density betwe
 en 2x10^17 and 2x10^20 per m3\, bookended by an intense hot electron r
 egime at low density and a fully collisional gas-dynamic regime at hig
 h density.   WHAM’s physics missions focus on an intermediate densit
 y regime dominated by hot ions (via neutral beam injection) where part
 icle confinement is governed by ion-ion pitch angle scattering and inc
 reases rapidly with average energy.  The axisymmetric mirror is unstab
 le to MHD interchange\, and the tradeoff to its simple geometry and en
 gineering advantages is requirement of additional actuators to ensure 
 MHD stabilization.  WHAM has partially reproduced the spectacularly su
 ccessful vortex confinement technique via imposed ExB rotation and has
  achieved modest perpendicular beta of nearly 10% and ion energies up 
 to 1 keV.  Ongoing work aims to reduce charge exchange and radiated po
 wer losses\, investigate alternate stabilization techniques\, determin
 e optimal mirror ratio\, and continue to press upwards in ion energy v
 ia addition of rf heating.  WHAM’s construction was funded by ARPA-E
  and ongoing research is supported by Realta Fusion. 
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URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=9391
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