Intermittent fluctuation statistics in spherical tori

Funder	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Recipient Organization	University of York
Country	United Kingdom
Start Date	Sep 15, 2024
End Date	Sep 14, 2028
Duration	1,460 days
Number of Grantees	2
Roles	Student; Supervisor
Data Source	UKRI Gateway to Research
Grant ID	`2929225`

Grant Description

Heat and mass transport in a tokamak plasma is primarily influenced by turbulence. Despite progress, there isn't a reliable model to predict confinement in tokamaks. To understand plasma confinement better, we need to study turbulent fluctuations. Plasma near the separatrix affects core conditions and the scrape-off-layer (SOL).

The edge plasma in tokamaks shows structures that cause irregular plasma fluctuations. Turbulence can spread, causing transport in both confined and open-field regions. Understanding turbulent transport is key to predicting confinement in tokamaks. My project focuses on studying edge plasma fluctuations in the spherical tokamaks MAST-U and ST40.

MAST-U has tools to explore these fluctuations, including Beam Emission Spectroscopy (BES) for studying edge turbulence and plasma flows. Diagnostics on ST40 will also be used for comparison. Dimensionless matching studies will help link confinement and turbulence properties between MAST-U and ST40.