Dartmouth Events

Physics Space and Plasma Seminar - Alex Tinguely, MIT

Title: "The challenges of relativistic “runaway” electrons for fusion and how transport might save us”

9/30/2025
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Wilder 202 and on Zoom
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Lectures & Seminars, School of Arts and Sciences

Abstract:  The phenomenon of relativistic “runaway” electrons (REs) is ubiquitous in all plasmas, from lightning storms to black hole accretion disks. In this talk, I will focus on the challenges of REs for magnetic confinement fusion devices: when and how they form, and where they end up. Projections from past and present experiments to future machines suggest that REs could carry mega-amperes of current with mega-electron-volt energies, melting millimeters of wall material upon impact. Encouragingly, a novel passive asymmetric coil might be able to transport REs out of the plasma faster than they can be generated, thereby effectively mitigating their negative consequences. However, as with most things in physics, the realization of such a coil is more difficult than we thought it would be…..

Hosted by Professor Muni Zhou

Join Zoom meeting

https://dartmouth.zoom.us/s/99960465228

Email Rowan.m.kowalsky@dartmouth.edu for passcode

For more information, contact:
Rowan Kowalsky
rowan.m.kowalsky@dartmouth.edu
Permanent URL to this event: https://physics.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=79081

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.