What is the topic of your Ph.D. thesis?

The topic of my thesis is “Towards kinetic transport modeling in 3D fusion devices with general magnetic field topology”. I am working on a particle tracing code called GORILLA (short for Guiding center ORbit Integrator with Local Linearization Approach) which allows for a CPU-efficient computation of different transport processes inside tokamaks and stellarators.

What is the focus of research?

Besides equipping myself with the necessary mathematical and physical understanding, the focus of my work is on code development. Currently, I am working on the self-consistent computation of electric fields in stellarators. This involves an iterative algorithm where ion and electron densities have to be computed in each step. Therefore, having a computationally cheap code is of crucial importance. My next project will focus on the simulation of helical cores (i.e. 3D instabilities close to the magnetic axis in tokamaks), where the currently developed algorithm for self-consistent electric field computations will be made use of.

What is the benefit for fusion research?

The goal is to provide the community with a tool that allows it to compute tokamak and stellarator equilibria in a kinetic and yet computationally cheap manner. Seen from an even broader angle, efficient and reliable reactor modeling should help in the design and operation of current and future fusion devices.

What are the biggest challenges?

My personal challenge is to wrap my head around all the different mathematical and physical aspects that need to be considered and to stay up to date with the current state of research. As for the code I am developing, it is challenging to find a good balance between physical accuracy and computational speed.

What plans do you have for your future? What will you be doing in five years? Would you like to continue research or are you going to work in the industry?

To be honest, I feel quite a bit like a beginner in many areas of fusion physics. Therefore, I would really like to add a postdoc after my Ph.D. in order to deepen my knowledge in the areas I am already working with. Afterwards, it depends on the opportunities that will arise, but in principle a career in academia is certainly appealing to me.

What was your motivation to write a fusion relevant Ph.D. thesis? What fascinates you about nuclear fusion?

On the one hand, I am intrigued by the reward that waits at the end of the quest towards nuclear fusion on earth – harnessing clean, safe and virtually inexhaustible amounts of energy. On the other hand, I am fascinated by how elegantly different branches of mathematics and physics come together in the description of all of the different processes involved in operating a fusion reactor.