A. Core Working Group (D. Newman, C. Greenfield)
The core working group covers transport issues from the center of the
plasma to the top of the H-mode edge pedestal. Topic include:
- Electron and ion thermal transport
- Particle transport
- Momentum transport and generation
- Profile/ transport control/modification issues (e.g role of
rotation, sources, plasma shape, etc.)
- Formation, control and dynamics of Internal Transport Barriers
- Core-edge interface (the edge as a dynamic boundary for the core)
- Physics of transport structures (e.g. zonal flows, streamers, avalanches)
- High performance and burning plasmas (ie steady state, bootstrap
dominated etc)
B. Edge Physics Working Group (R. Groebner, R. Moyer)
The Edge Physics group covers transport physics in the region just
inside and outside the last closed flux surface, with emphasis on
H-mode plasmas. Topics of interest include:
- Physics of H-mode pedestal structure
- Pedestal Transport, sources and sinks
- Transport induced by ELMs and other edge MHD activity
- Transport in the scrape-off layer
- Mechanism for L-H transition
C. Fast Particle Working Group (B. Breizman)
- Study of fast-particle-drive instabilities
- Assessment of fast particle effects on burning plasma performance
(e.g. ITER)
- Fast particle diagnostics in burning plasmas
- MHD spectroscopy
- Theory and simulation of nonlinear wave-particle interactions
- Interpreation of fast particle data from present experiments and projections for burning plasma
D. Momentum Transport and the Origins of Spontaneous Rotation
(P.H. Diamond, T.S. Hahm, J. Rice)
This working group was being created in 2007 to provide increased focus on plasma rotation, which influences transport in a number of ways. Important topics for the 2008 meeting include:
- Toroidal momentum transport, especially non-diffusive mechanisms,
off-diagonal contributions, etc.
- Cross coupling between particle transport and momentum transport
- Influence of edge plasma properties on spontaneous rotation and momentum transport
- Poloidal momentum transport in low collisionality plasmas
- Integrative modelling of spontaneous rotation
E. Verification and Validation Working Group (P.W. Terry, W. Nevins)
The Verification and Validation Group has been charged with examining
verification and validation (V&V) as it has been defined and structured
generally and in other scientific fields, and with formulating V&V procedures and practices applicable to the range of numerical modeling activities within the US fusion program, taking into consideration the goals, expectations and desired outcomes of different modeling activities, and resource limitations that are likely to apply to verification and validation. This group is presently working and expects to report its activities and findings at the TTF meeting in San Diego and seek feedback from the wider community. Verification and validation was discussed at a town hall meeting at last year's TTF as part of an effort to examine the state of the art of experiment/model comparison, to confront and seek solutions to particular challenges in performing validation in fusion, and to begin forging consensus about what validation in fusion should be and should accomplish. The town hall meeting was organized by a focused task group that this year seeks to broaden its base and help formulate ideas for validation campaigns involving experiment, modeling, and theory. It is hoped that these efforts will evolve into a cross cutting working group that interacts in the other TTF working group sessions to advance validation as a common exercise in physics, and meets less frequently to handle technical issues specific to verification and validation.
