Trinity: A Unified Treatment of Turbulence, Transport, and Heating in Magnetized Plasmas

dc.contributor.advisorDorland, Williamen_US
dc.contributor.authorBarnes, Michaelen_US
dc.contributor.departmentPhysicsen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-07-02T06:00:14Z
dc.date.available2009-07-02T06:00:14Z
dc.date.issued2009en_US
dc.description.abstractTo faithfully simulate ITER and other modern fusion devices, one must resolve electron and ion fluctuation scales in a five-dimensional phase space and time. Simultaneously, one must account for the interaction of this turbulence with the slow evolution of the large-scale plasma profiles. Because of the enormous range of scales involved and the high dimensionality of the problem, resolved first-principles global simulations are very challenging using conventional (brute force) techniques. In this thesis, the problem of resolving turbulence is addressed by developing velocity space resolution diagnostics and an adaptive collisionality that allow for the confident simulation of velocity space dynamics using the approximate minimal necessary dissipation. With regard to the wide range of scales, a new approach has been developed in which turbulence calculations from multiple gyrokinetic flux tube simulations are coupled together using transport equations to obtain self-consistent, steady-state background profiles and corresponding turbulent fluxes and heating. This approach is embodied in a new code, Trinity, which is capable of evolving equilibrium profiles for multiple species, including electromagnetic effects and realistic magnetic geometry, at a fraction of the cost of conventional global simulations. Furthermore, an advanced model physical collision operator for gyrokinetics has been derived and implemented, allowing for the study of collisional turbulent heating, which has not been extensively studied. To demonstrate the utility of the coupled flux tube approach, preliminary results from Trinity simulations of the core of an ITER plasma are presented.en_US
dc.format.extent8429769 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/9233
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledPhysics, Fluid and Plasmaen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledgyrokineticen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledplasmaen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledsimulationen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledtransporten_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledtrinityen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledturbulenceen_US
dc.titleTrinity: A Unified Treatment of Turbulence, Transport, and Heating in Magnetized Plasmasen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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