May 18, 2022

4:00pm-5:15pm EDT - ZOOM

Join Zoom Meeting: 
https://pppl.zoom.us/j/361549769?pwd=R0d5d0hFUjZJNnBhRGR0RkszOGM1UT09
Meeting ID: 361 549 769
Passcode: colloquium
(Note: Additional Zoom information can be found on the lab calendar. All participants microphones will be muted. During the talk, please send any questions/comments via private Zoom chat to the colloquium host)

PPPL VIRTUAL COLLOQUIUM, hosted by Ahmed Diallo

Professor Alain Brizard
Saint Michael's College, Professor of Physics

In search of the guiding-center

As we recently crossed several breakthroughs in magnetic fusion plasma physics and we approach an epoch-making milestone in the near future, it is worthwhile to celebrate the theoretical foundations of our progress toward magnetic nuclear fusion. Since the early days of Alfvén and Spitzer, guiding-center theory has been a key concept in understanding the physics of the magnetic confinement of charged particles. A review of guiding-center and gyrokinetic theory is first presented with an emphasis on the role played by many generations of PPPL plasma theorists over the past nearly 70 years. Next, a survey of recent results in space and laboratory plasma physics is presented.