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Thermodynamics of Plasmas workshop

5–7 Oct 2026
EPFL
Europe/Zurich timezone

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Session

Instabilities and confinement

Instabilities and confinement
5 Oct 2026, 14:00
Bernoulli center (EPFL)

Bernoulli center

EPFL

GA 3 34 (Building GA) Station 5 CH-1015 Ecublens Switzerland Coordinates on Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TSx44GXiANdZa9KB9

Conveners

Instabilities and confinement: Instabilities and confinement

  • Per Helander

Presentation materials

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  1. 6. Available Energy and Ground States of Convective Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic Instabilities
    Kaixuan Fan (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
    05/10/2026, 14:00
    Main track
    Oral presentation

    We propose a method for predicting the nonlinear saturation level of convective instabilities in neutral and magnetized fluids. The method combines Gardner's restacking algorithm, which computes the available energy and ground states of collisionless plasmas in phase space, and Lagrangian relaxation, where fluid elements find lower-energy equilibria while preserving local invariants. For the...

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  2. 10. Thermodynamic bounds on linear gyrokinetic microinstabilities
    Paul Costello (Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics)
    05/10/2026, 14:40
    Main track
    Oral presentation

    The microinstabilities that cause the confinement-limiting turbulence in modern fusion devices are driven by the radial gradients of density and temperature in the plasma. In multi‑scale gyrokinetic theory [1], these gradients act as a source of background free energy that feeds instabilities on the fluctuating micro scales, giving rise to turbulence, and ultimately, energy transport down the...

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  3. 35. Constrained Nonequilibrium Dynamics and the Formation of Transport Barriers in Magnetized Plasmas
    DR Hatch
    05/10/2026, 15:50
    Main track
    Oral presentation

    Transport barriers in magnetically confined plasmas pose an intriguing thermodynamic problem: large gradients, and hence substantial free energy, can coexist with strongly reduced turbulent transport. We examine this phenomenon from the perspective of constrained nonequilibrium dynamics. A macroscopic thermodynamic model treats the plasma boundary layer as a heat engine in which incoming power...

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  4. 12. Impact of Magnetic Configuration on Energy Confinement and Available Energy in Fusion Device
    Daishi Toriyama (GSES, Kyoto Univ.)
    05/10/2026, 16:30
    Main track
    Oral presentation

    Plasma turbulence is a dominant factor limiting energy confinement time in toroidal fusion plasmas, making computationally cheap confinement proxies highly desirable for quickly identifying experimentally attractive scenarios. In this presentation, we investigate whether "Available Energy (AE)” - an upper limit on the thermal energy available to drive Trapped Electron Mode (TEM) turbulence in...

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