Guest Editor(s)
Prof. Jan Weiland
Email: janweiland8@gmail.com
Affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, United States
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Research Interests: magnetically confined plasma transport and stability, drift wave turbulence and transport in tokamaks, collective modes and nonlinear dynamics in plasmas
Assoc. Prof. Tariq Rafiq
Email: rafiq@lehigh.edu
Affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, United States
Homepage:
Research Interests: magnetically confined fusion plasmas, tokamak transport physics, controlled thermonuclear fusion
Summary
Magnetic confinement fusion represents one of the most promising pathways toward sustainable and virtually limitless clean energy. The performance of tokamak fusion devices—such as ITER and future fusion reactors—is critically governed by turbulent transport and stability phenomena in magnetically confined plasmas. Understanding and controlling energy, particle, and momentum transport across the plasma core and edge regions remains a central challenge in fusion plasma physics.
This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge theoretical, computational, and experimental research on plasma transport and stability in magnetic confinement systems. Particular emphasis is placed on drift wave turbulence, anomalous transport, collective modes, and nonlinear dynamics, as well as their implications for the prediction and optimization of tokamak discharges. The interplay between plasma-facing materials and the extreme fluid-dynamic conditions in the boundary layer—where the plasma interacts with solid surfaces—also falls within the scope, aligning with the journal's focus on fluid dynamics and materials processing.
The scope covers both foundational studies on transport driving mechanisms and applied research supporting whole-device simulations and scenario extrapolation to ITER and beyond. By bridging fundamental plasma physics with engineering optimization for fusion energy applications, this Special Issue seeks to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and accelerate progress toward practical fusion power.
Suggested themes include:
· Fluid/kinetic hybrid transport modeling
· Drift wave turbulence and zonal flows
· Multi-scale transport and profile resilience
· Fast particle effects on plasma stability
· Isotope scaling and density limit in tokamaks
· Plasma–wall interaction and edge transport
· Predictive simulations for ITER and future reactors
Keywords
magnetic confinement fusion, tokamak transport, drift wave turbulence, plasma stability, collective modes, nonlinear plasma dynamics, fluid/kinetic hybrid modeling, iter predictive simulations, plasma–materials interaction, anomalous transport
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