• Dr. Bhuvana Srinivasan
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • 1060 Torgersen Hall
  • 5:00 p.m.
  • Faculty Host: Dr. Lin Ma

Two-fluid plasma models treat ions and electrons as two separate fluids and are necessary to study a number of problems relevant to fusion, propulsion, and other aerospace and space physics applications.  Two-fluid plasma models are useful to study plasma propulsion, which is the most promising propulsion method for cargo and human deep space missions. A number of plasma propulsion concepts such as Z-pinch pulsed plasma thrusters, plasmoid acceleration through magnetic nozzles, Hall thrusters, and others require ions and electrons to be treated as separate species to accurately resolve the physics. This talk will study two-fluid instabilities in a Z-pinch and two-fluid physics in a field-reversed configuration plasmoid that are relevant to thruster concepts. In addition to studying the relevant physics with the intention of pursuing a working thruster, the power source required for long-term cargo and human missions remains a major hurdle. Fusion energy is a strong contender to meet this requirement, thus understanding the physics and mitigating the instabilities that stand in the way of achieving fusion ignition are a priority. Fluid instabilities such as the Rayleigh-Taylor instability are thought to result in turbulent mixing and energy loss in inertial confinement fusion, preventing the ignition of fusion fuels. This talk will present results to show that two-fluid plasma physics effects could be used to mitigate such turbulent mixing and energy loss, making fusion conditions more achievable. Numerical and computational challenges of using two-fluid plasma models will also be presented.