Numerical Tokamak Project (NTP) simulation of turbulent transport in the core plasma: A grand challenge in plasma physics

摘要

The long-range goal of the Numerical Tokamak Project (NTP) is the reliable prediction of tokamak performance using physics-based numerical tools describing tokamak physics. The NTP is accomplishing the development of the most advanced particle and extended fluid model's on massively parallel processing (MPP) environments as part of a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary numerical study of tokamak core fluctuations. The NTP is a continuing focus of the Office of Fusion Energy's theory and computation program. Near-term HPCC work concentrates on developing a predictive numerical description of the core plasma transport in tokamaks driven by low-frequency collective fluctuations. This work addresses one of the greatest intellectual challenges to our understanding of the physics of tokamak performance and needs the most advanced computational resources to progress. We are conducting detailed comparisons of kinetic and fluid numerical models of tokamak turbulence. These comparisons are stimulating the improvement of each and the development of hybrid models which embody aspects of both. The combination of emerging massively parallel processing hardware and algorithmic improvements will result in an estimated 10**2--10**6 performance increase. Development of information processing and visualization tools is accelerating our comparison of computational models to one another, to experimental data, and to analytical theory, providing a bootstrap effect in our understanding of the target physics. The measure of success is the degree to which the experimentally observed scaling of fluctuation-driven transport may be predicted numerically. The NTP is advancing the HPCC Initiative through its state-of-the-art computational work. We are pushing the capability of high performance computing through our efforts which are strongly leveraged by OFE support.