Events at Physics |
Events on Monday, April 20th, 2026
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- Effects of magnetic geometry and neutrals in gyrokinetic simulations of magnetized boundary plasmas
- Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Place: Engineering Hall - 1227
- Speaker: Dr. Tess Bernard, General Atomics
- Abstract: Successful fusion pilot plant (FPP) design hinges upon the ability to predict and control exhaust conditions to maximize the lifetime of plasma-facing components. This work describes a pathway toward high-fidelity, first-principles simulations with predictive capabilities for plasma particle fueling and detachment. It presents the coupling of a continuum full-f gyrokinetic turbulence model with atomic neutral models, using the Gkeyll code. To investigate how neutral interactions and plasma shaping fundamentally affect edge turbulent transport, we carry out simulations of DIII-D inner-wall-limited (IWL) plasmas. We specifically consider negative triangularity (NT) plasmas, which exhibit robust confinement properties without the presence of disruptive edge localized modes (ELMs). Results demonstrate good agreement with experimental data, with neutral interactions providing important particle fueling and heat loss channels. Our analysis reveals key differences in the shear flow and turbulent fluctuations that contribute to improved confinement properties in NT.
- Host: Stephanie J. Diem
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
- A data-driven prediction for the primordial deuterium abundance
- Time: 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
- Place: Chamberlin 5280
- Speaker: Hongwan Liu, Boston U.
- Abstract: The primordial deuterium abundance D/H from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is one of the most powerful probes of ΛCDM cosmology and its extensions. I will present a novel, fully data-driven method for predicting D/H using Gaussian processes, validated with Monte Carlo tests that confirm negligible bias and accurate coverage of the resulting uncertainties. Applying the same Monte Carlo framework to polynomial fitting methods commonly used in the literature, we find that these systematically overestimate D/H. Assuming baryon abundances from CMB measurements, our predictions are approximately 2σ discrepant with observations of the primordial D/H.
- Host: Joshua Foster
- Graduate Program Event
- A search for dark matter recoiling from the standard model Higgs boson using the CMS experiment
- Time: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
- Place: Chamberlin 5290
- Speaker: Shivani Lomte
- Abstract: TBD
- Host: Sridhara Dasu