Room 004, School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
The pursuit of fusion on earth has been, until recently, led largely by government-funded universities and labs. Recognizing the fundamental need/importance of Commercially Viable Fusion (CVF) for an energy-starved and growing world population, private capital has entered the scene with enthusiasm and determination. As private interest grows, the tendency is to think that the "problem" has been reduced to a technical one requiring only engineering solutions. While fusion engineering is highly challenging, the pursuit of CVF will need continuous input of fundamental scientific ideas. While the goals can be societal and commercial, the pathway to getting there must be led by physics. We will explore the current vast fusion landscape and attempt to make a case why new physics will be crucial to make fusion energy affordable. We will also discuss in some detail elements of the new physics, including optimisation of confinement, arguably the most challenging hurdle to commercial fusion energy.
Dr Swadesh Mitter Mahajan joined the Institute of Fusion Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in 1977. He has worked in broad areas of physics centered on the dynamics of hot plasmas (classical and quantum) – plasma equilibrium and stability, nuclear fusion, wave-wave and wave-particle processes, in astrophysics, in cosmology, in developing a unified picture of classical forces. During the course of a long and varied research career, he has discovered several new phenomena and effects and invented new approaches to fusion and fusion-fission hybrids. A fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and The World Academy for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS), he has conducted several International Schools for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) at Trieste. Recently, he and two colleagues from University of Texas at Austin founded a Nuclear Fusion Company – ExoFusion – where he is the chief scientific advisor.
