New Insights into Fusion and Burning Plasma Physics

Dear Colleagues,

Fusion plasma physics is entering an exciting time. We will obtain burning plasma from the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in the near future. Here, burning plasma refers to plasma where the self-heating power from the fusion reactions is greater than or equal to the external heating power. Before fusion research enters the ITER era, we believe that this is a good time to see what we have already achieved in the study of burning plasma physics and what we still need to do in the future. That is the purpose of this Special Issue. By reviewing what we have achieved and also understanding the recent study results on burning plasmas, we can gain key new insights for future fusion research.

In burning plasmas, energetic alpha particles from deuterium–tritium fusion heat the plasma in a dominant fashion. Fast ion-driven instability has been a concern for the alpha-heating process since it degrades plasma performance and alpha-heating efficiency. On the other hand, energetic alpha particles can stabilize the turbulent fluctuations, the main transport mechanism in fusion plasmas. We also need to understand the electromagnetic effects on the turbulent fluctuations due to the high ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure (beta) in burning plasmas.

In burning plasmas, heat and particle fluxes on the plasma-facing components should be well controlled. Advanced divertor configurations, such as a snowflake configuration or detached configuration, need to be considered. In order to utilize these configurations, a comprehensive understanding of their effects on core plasma performance needs to be achieved. It is also essential to consider external heating and the current drive in burning plasma experiments to reach a high temperature for fusion and to maintain plasma confinement. Thus, electromagnetic wave heating and current drive physics are an important topic for future fusion plasmas.

Burning plasma will be realized in the ITER, which is a tokamak. However, this Special Issue is not limited to the results from tokamak research. Since most of the results in magnetic fusion research are compatible with different fusion concepts, this issue is also open to other material on alternative fusion concepts such as stellarator, spherical torus, field-reversed configuration, magnetic mirror, etc. It is also worth noting that the results from plasma study for other applications can be included in this Special Issue once those results are shown to have a connection to burning plasma physics. Comprehensive reviews are also welcome.

We look forward to receiving your valuable manuscripts and reading them.

Dr. Choongki Sung
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• plasma physics
• fusion energy
• fusion plasmas
• plasma diagnostics
• burning plasmas