Current HSX Graduate Students
- Alexis Briesemeister
- Alexis is in charge of installing and getting initial results from the CHERS system.
- Chris "The Hammer" Clark
- Chris is currently investigating impurity transport in the HSX Stellarator.
- In 2008, he led efforts to improve operations of HSX by controlling heavy impurity influx. This was first done through the use of a carbon limiter probe, and later through vessel carbonization.
- In 2007, he developed a computer simulation and data analysis program for a novel form of heavy ion beam probe.
- In 2006, he succesfully verified the predicted axis shift between Mirror and QHS modes by developing and operating an electron beam probe diagnostic.
- Jeremy Lore
- Jeremy's focus area is stellarator transport, specifically the measurement and modeling of transport at HSX. Jeremy is currently developing the PENTA code with Don Spong from ORNL, which calculates neoclassical transport quantities in stellarators or tokamaks while conserving parallel momentum. Neoclassical calculations predict a large "electron root" radial electric field (Er) in the core of HSX plasmas, with strong radial shear. The neoclassical simulations, coupled with turbulent transport calculations performed by Walter Guttenfelder have been successful in simulating the strongly peaked electron temperature profiles measured during ECR heating. The predicted electric fields and in-surface flows will be compared to ChERS measurements in the near future.
- In 2006 Jeremy implemented a displacement sensor system on HSX and performed structural modeling and testing to ensure safe operation at B=1T. Jeremy also performs analysis of data from the Thomson scattering diagnostic.
- Jerahmie Radder
- Area - rf heating and design and fabrication of a quasi-optical launching system for the high-power electron cyclotron resonance heating microwaves - 2 gyrotrons, 200 kilowatts each, for 50 to 75 milliseconds.
- John Schmitt
- Area - plasma flows, electric fields, and flow shear, in biased and non-biased ECRH plasmas.
- Gavin Weir
- Area - design, construction and implementation of the second ECH quasi-optical power transmission system for delivering power from the second 28 GHz gyrotron to HSX. The mirror is to be manually steerable to permit off-axis power deposition control.
- Bob Wilcox
- Area - plasma turbulence and flows, fluctuation induced transport,using multiple instances of multi-tipped edge-probes.
Graduated Students
- John Canik
- John has been studying the effects of quasisymmetry on particle
and heat transport. He has done this by measuring the plasma
density and temperature profiles using a Thomson scattering
system. He has also performed extensive three-dimensional
modeling of the neutral gas in HSX plasma, which has yielded the
particle source rate and neutral density.
John received his Ph.D. in Spring of 2007 and currently works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under a prestigious Wigner Fellowship.
- Walter Guttenfelder
- Area - examining fluctuations and anomalous transport in HSX especially through 3-D modeling.
- Walter received his PhD in the Winter of 2007, and currently works at the University of Warwick in England