Multi-Region Relaxation Dynamics in Fusion and Stellar Plasmas

This project aims to develop a major, fully dynamical extension of a recently pioneered approach to modelling static plasmas, and to apply it to linear modes of vibration and nonlinear explosive events in toroidally confined fusion plasma experiments and stellar atmospheres. While the small-scale dynamics of a magnetised plasma can be very complex, the emergent, larger-scale dynamics (often more important in practice) can be described by simple fluid-like models. The team's new approach involves dividing the plasma into multiple Taylor relaxation regions separated by current sheets, which has proved effective in modelling static, equilibrium plasmas in geometrically complex 3D geometries. The challenge now is to add time to the theory.