Nuclear Fusion and Astrophysical Plasmas

PHYS30511 Nuclear Fusion and Astrophysical Plasmas 10 Semester 1 Undergraduate Level 3 Guoxing Xia Unit coordinator William Bertsche Unit coordinator Department of Physics & Astronomy 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Last part of a Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 5.0 <p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px 0px 1em;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Nuclear Fusion and Astrophysical Plasmas<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px 0px 1em;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Not running 2025-2026<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">  <p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px 0px 1em;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Nuclear Fusion and Astrophysical Plasmas<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px 0px 1em;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Not running 2025-2026<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">  To introduce the concept of plasma as the fourth state of matter, and to show why the study of plasma is important in contemporary physics; to give a grounding in the theory explaining the basic properties of the plasma state; to develop an understanding of the principles of fusion research as well as some plasma phenomena observed in space and astrophysics.  On completion of the course, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of: 1. the basic concepts, parameters and modelling approaches of plasma physics; 2. single particle motion in plasmas; 3. the macroscopic (fluid) plasma model, including simple magnetohydrodynamic descriptions of equilibrium, Alfven waves and magnetic reconnection; 4. the  reactions and power balance relevant to controlled nuclear fusion and the principles of various approaches to controlled fusion; 5. the  physics behind such phenomena as the Earth's radiation belts, solar and stellar coronae, solar and stellar flares, the solar wind and its interaction with planetary magnetospheres. <p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px 0px 1em;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Nuclear Fusion and Astrophysical Plasmas<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px 0px 1em;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Not running 2025-2026<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;box-sizing:inherit;color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);font-family:"Segoe UI", Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.4285em;margin:0px;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">  1 Written exam 100% Feedback will be available on students’ individual written solutions to examples sheets, and model answers will be issued. PHYS20141 Electromagnetism Pre-Requisite Compulsory PHYS20171 Mathematics of Waves and Fields Pre-Requisite Compulsory PHYS20352 Statistical Mechanics Pre-Requisite Compulsory N Recommended texts: Chen, F.F. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion (Plenum Publishers)Gurnett, D.A. and Bhattarcharjee A. Introduction to Plasma Physics with Space and Fusion applications (Cambridge U.P.)Inan, U.S.  and Golkowski. M.  Principles of Plasma Physics for Engineers and Scientists   (Cambridge U.P.)Supplementary reading: Baumjohann, W. & Treumann, R.A. Basic Space Plasma Physics (Imperial College PressJ. Friedberg, J. Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy (Cambridge U.P.)Goedbloed, H. & Poedts, S. Principles of Magnetohydrodynamics with Applications to Laboratory and Space Plasmas (Cambridge U.P.)Golub, L. and Pasachoff, J.M. The solar corona (Cambridge U.P.)McCracken,G. and Stott,P.  Fusion: the energy of the universe (Elsevier)Stacey, W.M. Fusion (Wiley)   Assessment written exam 2 Lectures 22 0 76