Simons Collaboration on Hidden Symmetries and Fusion Energy advances stellarator reactor design

The Simons Collaboration on Hidden Symmetries and Fusion Energy has produced databases of stellarator fusion reactor designs. The effort focuses on using external coils to create twisted magnetic fields that confine plasma without relying on an internal electrical current. The collaboration formed in 2018 with support from the Simons Foundation. Researchers from plasma physics, mathematics and computer science worked together to address the complex geometry of stellarator magnets and plasma shapes. Changing magnet configurations even slightly can alter plasma confinement and overall system stability, according to deputy director Matt Landreman of the University of Maryland. Founding director Amitava Bhattacharjee, a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University and the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, said the collaboration exceeded his expectations. It built what he called the world's largest theory and computational team dedicated to designing stellarator fusion reactors. One design from the databases may become the first stellarator to produce net energy.