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<h1 align="center">The Plasma Science and Innovation Center</h1>

<h1 align="center">PSI - Center</h1>

<h1 align="center">Project Overview</h1>

<p><em>Moqui (2D) simulation of the translated FRX-L FRC (by Dr. R. D. Milroy).</em>

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The Plasma Science and Innovation or PSI-Center will refine present

computational tools with sufficient physics, boundary conditions, and

geometry to be calibrated with experiments to achieve predictive

capabilities. Two 3D codes - NIMROD and MH4D - will be used.

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The PSI-Center's primary objective is to develop predictive capability

for "EC-level" experiments, so that one can design and model new

experiments in fusion science and in other areas of plasma science, but

without actual construction. The PSI-Center will emphasize physics

that may extend beyond the standard analysis nowadays applied to the

mainline programs. This specifically includes strong flow effects,

kinetic effects, reconnection and relaxation phenomena, transport,

atomic physics, radiation, FLR effects, two-fluid or Hall physics,

proper boundary conditions, proper geometry, and other physics that

must be included in models to achieve the needed predictability. All

of these effects are also important in mainline fusion devices, but one

or more tend to dominate effects in particular EC configurations, which

makes those effects particularly amenable to EC study with existing

diagnostics. The goal of the PSI-Center is to capture the dominant

effects of many different EC experiments, covering most of EC physics.

Thus, general predictability for ECs is possible with no one EC having

a complete diagnostic set. As more physics becomes tractable,

diagnostics can become even more focused on the intractable. Some of

the phenomena, like the Hall effect and kinetic effects, are higher

frequency than can be practically calculated from first principles, and

for them the saturated effects of critical high frequency phenomena

need to be determined and formulated to accurately give the long-term

effects, and yet be numerically tractable.

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Five key physics issues have been identified for developing unified and

comprehensive modeling capabilities for EC experiments. They are:

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1. Two fluid / Hall physics

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2. Kinetic and FLR effects

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3. Reconnection, relaxation physics

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4. Transport, atomic physics, and radiation

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5. Boundary conditions and geometry

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<a href="index.html">Back to Main PSI-Center Page</a>

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