Simons Collaboration on Hidden Symmetries and Fusion Energy Annual Meeting
Monday February 25, 2019
Participation is by invitation only. All participants must register.
The most compelling transformational use of magnetically confined, high-temperature plasma is to realize sustained fusion energy. Despite impressive progress, net energy production has not yet been achieved. The tokamak, which is the leading magnetic confinement concept in the world today, has the topology of a torus and continuous symmetry with respect to the toroidal angle, giving it good confinement properties. In the stellarator, which is the leading alternative to the tokamak, the confining magnetic field is mostly produced by external current-carrying coils. In contrast to the tokamak, stellarators rely on symmetry breaking to realize the magnetic field needed to confine particles.
Over the last few decades, a new concept has emerged in the design of stellarators, giving rise to a renaissance—the remarkable discovery that it is possible to design 3-D magnetic confinement devices with hidden symmetries that can have the same virtues as tokamaks while overcoming some of the inherent drawbacks of the latter. An example of a hidden symmetry, known as “quasi-symmetry,” is that the magnitude B of the magnetic vector field B has a negligible coordinate dependence (in a special curvilinear coordinate system) even though B does not. The primary purpose of this Simons Collaboration in Mathematical and Physical Sciences is to create and exploit an effective mathematical and computational framework for the design of stellarators with hidden symmetries.
The challenge of finding 3D optimum magnetic fields with hidden symmetries encompasses mathematical and computational problems of great subtlety, straddling optimization theory, plasma physics, dynamical systems, and the analysis of partial differential equations. In this Workshop, we are bringing together a diverse interdisciplinary group of applied mathematicians, computer scientists, and plasma physicists to discuss the fundamental challenges and transformational potential of the stellarator approach to magnetic confinement. Presentations at the Annual Meeting, which is by invitation only, include eight plenary lectures, a poster session, and ample time for discussion.
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Agenda
THURSDAY, MARCH 28
8:30 AM CHECK-IN & BREAKFAST 9:30 AM Amitava Bhattacharjee 10:30 AM BREAK 11:00 AM Thomas Sunn Pedersen and Eve Stenson 12:00 PM LUNCH 1:00 PM Per Helander 2:00 PM BREAK 2:30 PM Matt Landreman 3:30 PM BREAK 4:00 PM David Bindel 5:00 PM DAY ONE CONCLUDES 5:30 PM DINNER FRIDAY, MARCH 29
8:30 AM CHECK-IN & BREAKFAST 9:30 AM Robert MacKay 10:30 AM BREAK 11:00 AM Stuart Hudson 12:00 PM LUNCH 1:00 PM Chris Hegna 2:00 PM MEETING CONCLUDES -
Travel
Air and Train
Group A
The foundation will arrange and pay for all air and train travel to the conference for those in Group A. Please provide your travel specifications by clicking the registration link above. If you are unsure of your group, please refer to your invitation sent via email.Group B
The foundation will arrange and pay for hotel only for those in Group B. If you are unsure of your group, please refer to your invitation sent via email.Group C
Individuals in Group C will not receive financial support. Please register at the link above so we can capture your dietary requirements. If you are unsure of your group, please refer to your invitation sent via email.Personal Car
For participants in Groups A & B driving to Manhattan, the Roger Hotel offers valet parking. Please note there are no in-and-out privileges when using the hotel’s garage, therefore it is encouraged that participants walk or take public transportation to the Simons Foundation. -
Hotel
Participants in Groups A & B who require accommodations are hosted by the foundation for a maximum of three nights at The Roger hotel. Any additional nights are at the attendee’s own expense.
The Roger New York
131 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(between 30th and 31st Streets)To arrange accommodations, please register at the link above.
For driving directions to The Roger, please click here.
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Contacts
Travel Assistance
Elise Volpe, Protravel
simons.foundation@protravelinc.com
516-465-1006Registration, Hotel and General Meeting Assistance
Emily Klein
Event Coordinator, Simons Foundation
eklein@simonsfoundation.org
(646) 751-1262 -
Travel & Expense Policy
Expense reimbursement will be handled online via our reimbursement platform hosted by Concur. Additional information in this regard will be sent at the conclusion of the annual meeting.