First first-principles-based simulation of a transition to high-confinement fusion plasma on Titan supercomputer

Simulation was performed on the Titan supercomputer. Source: Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility.

For the first time, scientists have been able to simulate the spontaneous transition of turbulence at the edge of a fusion plasma to the high-confinement mode (H-mode) that sustains fusion reactions. The detailed simulation is the first basic physics, or first-principles-based, modeling with few simplifying assumptions.

Read more

Fusion students perfect their skills at the 4th BSC Severo Ochoa Doctoral Symposium

Felipe Nathan de Oliveira

From the 2nd to the 4th May, three members of the Fusion Group at BSC participated in the 4th Severo Ochoa Doctoral Symposium, two of them as Poster Presenters and one as volunteer to help its organization.

The goal of the Doctoral Symposium is twofold. On the one hand, it aims to provide a framework to share the research results that form the theses being developed by young researchers and postgraduate students at BSC. On the other hand, it offers training sessions on topics and skills that may be useful to future researchers and professionals.

Felipe Nathan de Oliveira, a Master student working in our fusion group, presented his work on “Stabilization of microturbulence by fast ions”. His poster is part of an ongoing investigation aiming to find evidence of electromagnetic stabilization of Ion Temperature Gradients, a microturbulence found in tokamak-like fusion reactors.

Read more

Severo Ochoa mobility brings fusion experts to BSC

Dr Hauke Doerk (IPP, Germany) giving a lecture as part of his two-week stay at BSC.

Over the past couple of weeks, our Fusion group has counted with the visits of two Fusion Scientists from United States and Germany under the Severo Ochoa mobility program of Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). The program aims at enhancing partnerships between BSC and other institutions through grants for ongoing and incoming researchers.

Read more

Farewell to Helios

Helios supercomputer (photo: Bull).

It is time to say goodbye to the Helios supercomputer located in the International Fusion Energy Research Centre (IFERC) in Rokkasho, Japan, hosted by the Japanese Atomic Energy Authority (JAEA).

From 2011 to 2016 Helios was one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers with a peak performance of more than 1.5 Petaflop/s. Its main goal was to give scientists the opportunity to perform complex calculations in plasma physics.

Read more