T. Kenneth Fowler

My principal research area is theoretical plasma physics applied to fusion energy. The central problem of magnetic fusion research is determining the rate of escape of thermal energy from a fully ionized gas, or plasma, confined by magnets of various shapes, in order to determine the critical size device required to maintain thermonuclear ignition in a plasma comprised of deuterium, tritium, or other light elements capable of energy-producing fusion reactions. My work mainly concerns the adaptation of non-equilibrium thermodynamic techniques to calculate heat transport rate in such plasmas, most recently applied to a relatively simple magnetic configuration called the spheromak.