Plasma Turbulence Calculations On Supercomputers

To predict the size, expense, and performance of mag netic fusion reactors, it is critical to know the scaling of particle transport and losses across the magnetic field with machine and plasma parameters. The mechanism for transport in magnetically confined plasmas is not yet known. However, at the plasma edge, losses larger than those predicted by classical theory have been shown to be induced by fluctuations. Numerical calculations of plasma turbulence are expected to lead to the identifica tion of the transport scaling parameters. The fluid ap proach to plasma dynamics makes tractable some plasma turbulence problems for which kinetic theory calculations are, at present, too complex. Only with present supercomputers can this problem be treated for the edge plasma.