fusion Theory & Computation

The theory research group, led by Dr. Peter Catto, develops fundamental plasma physics

Dr. Peter Catto discusses results with graduate student, Natalia Krashennikova.

concepts as part of the national fusion program and for advancement of plasma science in general. In particular it provides theoretical and computational support for Alcator C-Mod and other tokamaks, the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX), and the Versatile Toroidal Facility (VTF). Areas of active theory research include MHD and kinetic stability, heating and current drive, nonlinear dynamics, turbulent and collisional confinement, and integrated modeling of advanced tokamak physics.