Building Capacity for Novel High-Temperature Plasma Research at San Diego State University

Dr. Jose Castillo¹, Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Computational Research Center

Co-PIs: Dr. Christopher Paolini¹, Dr. Miguel Dumett¹, Dr. Ricardo Carretero¹, Dr. Efstathios Charalampidis¹, Dr. Mark Kostuk²

1. San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182

2. General Atomics, San Diego, CA 92121

The Computational Science Research Center (CSRC) at San Diego State University (SDSU), a research-intensive Hispanic—and Asian American, Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution, is partnering with General Atomics (GA), the operator of the DIII-D National Fusion User Facility for the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Fusion Energy Science (FES). The main goal of this project is to build capacity for novel high-energy plasma research at SDSU in close synergy with GA.

This project targets two of the three elements of FES’ vision as announced in December 2023: (1) bridging gaps through creating innovation engines, and (2) ensuring sustainable pathways for a diverse and exceptional workforce. Expanding the intellectual capacity at SDSU into fusion plasma science will be achieved through the transfer of expertise in the DIII-D diagnostic data, plasma simulations, and control techniques. The close collaboration with GA will be instrumental in providing the SDSU team with DIII-D data for prototyping computer models. Our approach puts forward two complementary research objectives: (A) developing and deploying mimetic methods and (B) simulation and dynamical systems analysis of nonlinear structures in fusion plasma. More specifically, the Mimetic Difference Group at SDSU has been building theoretical and practical tools that allow researchers to rapidly implement mimetic difference schemes to numerically solve mathematical models with high accuracy. In parallel, the Nonlinear Dynamical Systems group at SDSU has extensive experience investigating nonlinear structures in complex time and position-dependent systems, such as vortex filaments and vortex rings, which have been observed in nuclear fusion plasmas and whose dynamics and control are thought to be key in developing more efficient plasma confinement and compression.

The synergy between SDSU and GA promises mutual long-lasting benefits. We foresee a vibrant exchange of ideas in fusion research between the two sites through these shared research efforts, student training at both sites, and joint meetings. In particular, we will establish a seminar series that will integrate horizontally (between the two sites) and vertically (research, graduate and undergraduate, students and postdocs at SDSU) a springboard to develop successful approaches to understand and improve the operation of the DIII-D fusion plasma facility.