Renewal of the Basic Plasma Science Facility

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides funding for the Basic Plasma Science Facility (BaPSF) at the University of California, Los Angeles. The purpose of BaPSF is to provide the general plasma community access to a frontier level research device (the LAPD-U) that permits the exploration of fundamental plasma problems that cannot be pursued in small devices or in the large fusion facilities. Qualified researchers from universities, national laboratories and industry can perform experiments, free of charge, upon approval of their proposals by a Scientific Council composed of senior scientists broadly representative of the plasma community. The plasmas and equipment available at BaPSF allow the detailed study, under controlled conditions, of processes involving a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The studies at BaPSF address contemporary topics at the frontier of basic plasma, space and fusion science research. The studies span microscopic phenomena on the fast electron time scales (e.g, electron plasma waves, cyclotron radiation) to the slow transport scales characteristic of drift-wave turbulence and long wavelength magnetic fluctuations. New thrusts include plans to coordinate and implement new community-driven campaigns in research areas of major impact to fusion and space researchers and a theory driven mode. The major campaigns will be led by a scientist from outside UCLA who will organize and steer the experimental campaign with assistance from the BaPSF staff. The theory driven mode is designed to satisfy the pressing need for detailed data to benchmark major results of the theoretical and modeling communities. These experiments will involve collaborations between scientists from the theoretical and modeling community and an experimentalist from the BaPSF staff.