Date Sep 14, 2022, 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm Location MBG Auditorium and Online Virtual Location Virtual Audience General Public Speaker Professor Cary Forest Affiliation University of Wisconsin Details Cary Forest, a professor of physics and lead researcher for the new Wisconsin Plasma Physics Laboratory (WiPPL), stands next to the Big Red Plasma Ball in Sterling Hall. The Big Red Plasma Ball is one of several WiPPL-managed pieces of scientific equipment being used to study the fundamental properties of plasma in order to better understand the universe. PHOTO: JEFF MILLER Event Description Wednesday - September 14, 2022 4:00pm-5:15pm EDT - PPPL AUDITORIUM AND VIA ZOOM Hosted by Anurag Maan Professor Cary Forest University of Wisconsin, Prager Professor of Experimental Physics The Physics Basis for a Q≈1 High-Field, Compact, Axisymmetric Mirror* A public-private team has been formed to pursue the axisymmetric mirror path to fusion: ARPA-E has funded the construction of an high temperature superconducting prototype called the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror (WHAM), that involves the UW Madison, a new startup company Realta Fusion, MIT and CFS. The 3 step development path begins with a small mirror, WHAM1.0, to establish MHD stable plasmas relying on vortex and FLR stabilization by fast ions of a high mirror ratio simple mirror, a reactor scale simple mirror WHAM++ that uses 100+ keV neutral beam injection to validate the confinement, macro and microstability in a simple mirror, and finally a tandem mirror that uses two WHAM++ configurations with ~1MeV, rf heated ions for the end plugs of a HTS Axisymmetric Magnetic Mirror Reactor (Hammir). This talk will review the physics basis for WHAM++ and address the TRLs for magnets, heating systems, MHD techniques, and microstability for mirror distribution functions. I will rely on bounce averaged drift kinetic/Fokker-Plank solutions for mirror confined fast ions that show Q>1 is achievable in a simple mirror with mirror ratio > 10. Direct energy recovery greatly improves prospects even for electrical breakeven. MHD stability will come from FLR stabilization for m>1, and plasma shaping, divertors, vortex and feedback stabilization at high β for m=1. Microinstabilty will rely upon sloshing ions and high mirror ratio. A direct energy convertor appropriate for the axisymmetric exhaust of the mirror should be capable of recovering more than 50% of the lost energy thereby increasing Q even further. Breakeven is possible even for small energy input (several MWs). Applications of WHAM++ include use as a blanket test facility, a minor actinide burner and as a source of efficient process heat. Power production for an industrial scale will be with Hammir. *This work has been supported by ARPA-E, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and CFS. To join via Zoom: https://pppl.zoom.us/j/361549769?pwd=R0d5d0hFUjZJNnBhRGR0RkszOGM1UT09Meeting ID: 361 549 769Passcode: colloquium Sponsor Anurag Maan Upcoming Events Events Archive