The plasma physics group at IISc is involved in understanding fundamental physical phenomena in fusion plasmas. This understanding is crucial to explain the experimental observations from present fusion experiments and provide suggestions to improve current and future devices, such as ITER.
A plasma is a highly complex medium characterized by phenomena that occur on a vast range of temporal and spatial scales, which are all nonlinearly coupled. Consequently, plasmas are typically turbulent and much more complex than standard neutral fluids because of their interaction with electric and magnetic fields.
Understanding and simulating plasma behaviour is thus highly complex. Advanced analytic theories are necessary to get insight into plasma dynamics, together with state-of-the-art scientific codes developed at our centre or within international collaborations and running on some of the most powerful computers.
Theory and numerical modelling activities at IISc cover the following main areas of research:
- First principle-based simulations of plasma turbulence
- Modelling of experimental results
- Study of the plasma dynamics at the edge of fusion devices
- Energetic particle physics in tokamaks and stellarators
Plasma physics group is playing an essential role in advancing our understanding of the plasma dynamics of different tokamak and stellarators of the world.