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SUMMARY:Staircases in Confined Magnetized Plasmas — Overview via Selecte
 d Topics - Patrick Diamond (University of California\, San Diego)
DTSTART:20240118T090000Z
DTEND:20240118T100000Z
UID:TALK208498@talks.cam.ac.uk
DESCRIPTION:P. H. Diamond Depts. of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics U
 .C. San Diego\nThis talk presents an overview of layering and staircases i
 n confined magnetized plasmas\, by way of a discussion of selected topics.
  Staircase formation due to inhomogeneous mixing of heat\, particles\, etc
 . is well known in confined plasmas. Many mechanisms of inhomogeneous mixi
 ngs are possible\, and will be critically discussed. Basic models of confi
 ned magnetized plasmas are introduced\, with an emphasis on physical simpl
 icity\, and accessibility to a broad audience. Models of staircase formati
 on are then discussed\, with an emphasis on: i) Two-scale mixing\, with on
 e scale emergent. Transition from &ldquo\;staircase&rdquo\; to &ldquo\;tra
 nsport barrier&rdquo\; states in these models are of particular interest. 
 ii) Jam formation in avalanching. Confined plasmas of interest are typical
 ly heat flux driven\, and thus support avalanches. Jams form in avalanchin
 g systems\, then leading to staircase formation. More generally\, the seem
 ingly intimate relation between staircases and avalanches &lsquo\;near mar
 ginal stability&rsquo\; is of some interest and will be discussed. iii) Se
 lf-sharpening\, as in homogenization in an array of convective cells\, whi
 ch may be anisotropic (i.e. zonal flows). A state of a weakly fluctuating 
 vortex array (&ldquo\;finite temperature vortex crystal&rdquo\;) is a part
 icularly compelling venue in which to study layering by self-sharpening. R
 esiliency of self-sharpened staircase states will be discussed. We will al
 so introduce key experimental results on staircases and discuss related me
 soscopic phenomena\, such as turbulence spreading. Additional systems with
  dynamics resembling those of plasmas (such as Cahn&ndash\;Hilliard&ndash\
 ;Navier&ndash\;Stokes) - and which manifest layering - will be discussed.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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