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Dr. Noel R. Corngold Professor
of Applied Physics, Emeritus
146
Watson |
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| Expertise Nuclear reactor physics, theories of particle transport, and the physics of non-neutral plasmas. Field of Study Our present research activities are in mathematical or theoretical plasma physics. More generally, they lie in the field of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, with particular emphasis on the theory of particle transport. Some examples are: 1) Plasmas with a single sign of charge: These plasmas, which have remarkable confinement properties, are the subject of considerable interest, both experimental and theoretical. We are concerned with both their static and dynamic properties near thermal equilibrium. 2) The Fokker-Planck Equation and "Runaway Electrons": This research is concerned with the energy spectrum of electrons in a plasma, as determined by two agencies--an electric field which accelerates them--and Coulomb collisions, which hinder their motion. Our analysis leads ultimately to an estimate of the population of "super-thermal" electrons, electrons which often play a crucial role in plasma dynamics and in the behavior of electronic devices. In addition, the "runaway problem" is a challenging exercise in singular perturbation theory. 3) Quantifying Chaos: Edge-Turbulence in the Tokamak: There is no doubt that the edge-plasma in a tokamak is turbulent. Modern developments in the theory of nonlinear systems enable one to ask: How turbulent? One of the measures of the "dimension" of chaotic behavior is the correlation-dimension. James Theiler's doctoral research included a critical study of this quantity, and concluded with an analysis of turbulence in the Caltech tokamak. Its dimension proved to be large enough to be treated as "white noise." 4) Exotic Aspects of Collision Cascades: Collision cascades initiated by a "hot" atom, and governed by cross-sections which have power-law behavior in the center-of-mass frame, occur frequently in fission and fusion physics. In recent papers, we commented on two unusual features of these cascades--their fractal structure, and the apparent failure of conservation laws in the associated kinetic equations. A later review paper noted the apparent failure in several fields of research, a phenomenon discovered and rediscovered through several decades. Selected Publications N. Corngold, "The Non-Linear Diocotron Mode in a Pure Electron Plasma," Phys. Plasmas, 3, (9) (1996) K. Christianson and N. Corngold, "The Problem of Runaway Electrons," Annals Nuc. Eng. 23, 271 (1996) N. Corngold, "Linear Response of the 2-dimensional Pure Electron Plasma; Quasi-Modes for Some Model Profiles," Phys. Plasmas, 2, 620 (1995) N. Corngold, "Virial Equation for the Pure Electron Plasma," Phys. Fluids B 5, 3847 (1993) N. Corngold, "Thermodynamics of a Gas of Electrons," in Rarefied Gas Dynamics, edited by B. Shizgal and D. Weaver, vol 158 of Prog. in Astronautics and Aeronautics, 583 (1993) N. Corngold, "Zero-Energy Moments of the Distribution of Fast Atoms and Cascades," Annals Nuc. Eng. 19, 655 (1992) |
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16 July, 2009
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