Master thesis topics 2022-2023

Master thesis topics offered by the research unit Nuclear Fusion at Ghent University

Introduction

The research on controlled thermonuclear fusion aims at providing stable, baseload electric power by creating “a star on earth”. Magnetic confinement fusion in tokamaks and stellarators is foreseen to result in clean and safe commercial power production by the second half of the century. ITER, the next-step device in this endeavor, is currently being constructed in France in the context of the largest international scientific collaboration ever. In addition, design activities for demonstration reactors are increasing in Europe and worldwide.

The research unit Nuclear Fusion (infusion) at the department of Applied Physics offers master thesis topics in the following areas of fusion research:

Fusion data science
Magnetohydrodynamics
Ion cyclotron plasma heating and wall conditioning

The topics on offer in each of these areas are described below. Additional topics related to research on fusion materials offered by the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) are available through the research group Sustainable Materials Science (Prof. Kim Verbeken).

Fusion data science

This research concerns the development of techniques in data science and machine learning with applications to the physics and technology of fusion devices. With the large volumes of complex data being generated at experimental fusion machines around the world, there is a strong need for automated analysis using data science and machine learning methods. The research targets a broad array of applications in plasma control and plasma diagnosis, in increasing the understanding of the physics of magnetized fusion plasmas and in designing new fusion machines. This research combines two of the most topical and challenging issues of our time: sustainable energy supply and data science.

The topics introduced below cover part of the group’s research activities, in collaboration with the research institutes operating the tokamaks JET (Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, UK) and ASDEX Upgrade (Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Germany), as well as the Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany). The focus of each of the topics can be directed towards either the numerical or rather the physics aspects, depending on the student’s interests. A research visit to each of the facilities also belongs to the possibilities.

Detection of plasma instabilities in tokamaks with machine learning

Promoter: Prof. Dr. Geert Verdoolaege
Supervisor: Jerome Alhage
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Information Engineering Technology
Location: Technicum

Explaining the dependence on machine size of the energy confinement in tokamaks using data-driven methods

Promoter: Prof. Dr. Geert Verdoolaege
Supervisor: Joseph Hall
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Information Engineering Technology
Location: Technicum

Survival analysis of first-wall components under thermal loads in a fusion reactor

Promoters: Prof. Dr. Geert Verdoolaege
Supervisor: Leonardo Caputo
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Information Engineering Technology
Location: Technicum, Forschungszentrum Jülich

Integrated analysis of electron densities and temperatures using a single and triple probe system on TOMAS

Promoters: Prof. Dr. Geert Verdoolaege, Prof. Dr. Kristel Crombé
Supervisor: Hao Wu
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics
Location: Technicum, Forschungszentrum Jülich

Magnetohydrodynamics

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is the theoretical framework describing plasma behavior from a fluid perspective. The group is involved in MHD modeling for interstellar and fusion plasmas.

Filament formation in an interstellar plasma

Promoter: Prof. Dr. Sven Van Loo
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Sven Van Loo
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics
Location: Technicum

Ion cyclotron plasma heating and wall conditioning

Ion temperatures of over 100 million degrees need to be reached in future fusion reactors for the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction to work. Ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) is a method that has the capability to directly heat ions to such high temperatures, via a resonant interaction between the plasma ions and radiofrequency (RF) waves launched in the plasma. Another important application of ion cyclotron waves is wall conditioning, a technique to improve plasma performance by reducing the generation of particles (impurities) released from the wall of the device.

The following topics in this area are offered in collaboration with the Laboratory for Plasma Physics at the Royal Military Academy in Brussels (LPP-ERM/KMS).

Application of the ion cyclotron matching algorithm to different plasmas in TOMAS

Promoter: Prof. Dr. Kristel Crombé
Supervisor: Maja Verstraeten
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics
Location: Forschungszentrum Jülich; Laboratory for Plasma Physics, Royal Military Academy (Brussels)

Characterization and optimization of IC, EC and mixed IC+EC plasmas on the TOMAS device

Promoter: Prof. Dr. Kristel Crombé
Supervisor: Dr. Andrei Goriaev
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics
Location: Forschungszentrum Jülich; Laboratory for Plasma Physics, Royal Military Academy (Brussels)

Determination of radio frequency power deposition profiles in a toroidal plasma

Promoter: Prof. Dr. Kristel Crombé
Supervisor: Johan Buermans
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics
Location: Laboratory for Plasma Physics, Royal Military Academy (Brussels)

Implementation of a Retarding Field Analyzer as a new diagnostic on the TOMAS device and first tests

Implementation of a triple probe on a vertical manipulator on the TOMAS device and first tests

Promoter: Prof. Dr. Kristel Crombé
Supervisor: Dr. Andrei Goriaev, Luis Daniel Lopez Rodriguez
Study programs: Master of Science in Engineering Physics, Master of Science in Physics and Astronomy, European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics
Location: Forschungszentrum Jülich; Laboratory for Plasma Physics, Royal Military Academy (Brussels)