At the end of the course, the student should acquire the following levels of knowledge: a) The student should understand (i) The energy, mass and momentum balance for a fusion reactor (ii) The general properties of matter in the state of plasma, and know what additional peculiarities characterize plasma in a fusion environment (iii) The basic mechanisms of magnetic plasma confinement (both from the single particle orbit theory point of view and using the collective fluid description), and the properties of mechanical equilibrium in a magnetically confined plasma (iv) Physics of Coulomb collisions in a magnetized plasma (v) The main mechanisms governing interaction with the fusion plasma and the external world (vi) The basic physics of particles and power exhaust in a fusion reactor and their critical importance for the overall machine b) The student should be able to apply the knowledge acquired to design and analyze simple practical experiments. c) The student should be able to carefully examine the results of numerical experiments provided during the lectures on the topics of Power Exhaust and Plasma-Wall interactions, and to compare them with the theory discussed during the lectures.

The essential pre-requisite of the course is a good knowledge of the topics presented in the first two years of any Engineering BSc program. An introduction to nuclear engineering (like that provided, e.g., in the course “Elementi di ingegneria nucleare”), and a basic knowledge of Python/MATLAB programming could be helpful, but is not mandatory.

* General introduction * Estimate of the parameters characterizing a possible fusion reactor * definition of a plasma: Debye length, plasma frequency, quasi-neutrality * motion of a single charged particle in the electromagnetic field * MHD equilibrium and stability * collisions in a plasma * particle and energy transport * performance of present tokamaks vs future reactors * plasma heating * Debye sheath and Bohm criterion; impurities; Scrape-Off Layer, 2-point model * Physics of power exhaust * Impurities physics * Practical experience of small tokamak plasma operation (GOLEM)

The teacher will try to organize at least a visit to "Consorzio RFX-Padova", to help students getting acquainted with one of the main italian laboratories operating on the development of nuclear fusion reactors.

The course will be organized as follows: 1) Main lectures. They will cover most of the course topics. During the lectures, several numerical examples will be discussed to illustrate the discussion with practical example and help the student to develop a sensitivity to the most important figures in the subject. This part involves about 46h. 2) Seminars Some amount of time will be dedicated to seminars/special lectures on specific topics considered relevant to the subject. These special lectures will be given by external experts contacted by the teacher among his scientific collaborators. The exact scheduling of such lectures will be announced at the beginning of the actual lecturing period, and can depend on the actual schedule of the teachers. It is expected that they will cover about 24h of the course. 3) Practical lectures The last part of the course will be dedicated to practical classes on the physics of plasma-wall interactions and power exhaust in Tokamaks, focusing on data analysis techniques and practical examples. This part is expected to cover about 10h.

Reference textbooks • J.P. Freidberg, Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy, Cambridge University Press, 2007 • Peter C. Stangeby, The Plasma Boundary of Magnetic Fusion Devices, Institute of Physics Publishing, 2000

Lecture slides; Lecture notes; Exercise with solutions ; Video lectures (previous years);

Exam: Computer lab-based test; Individual project; Group project;

The final grading will be determined going through the following evaluation steps: 1) Computer-based tests (mandatory) 2) Group project (mandatory) 3) Individual project (mandatory) 4) Oral discussion (optional) Each step 1)-3) will be assigned an independent numerical score, summing-up to a maximum total of 30/30. • If the total score of steps 1)-3) is no larger than 28/30, this will be also be the final value, with no further step • If the total score of steps 1)-3) is 29/30 or larger, the student will decide: a) To accept it as the final value, or b) To held an oral discussion A detailed description of the individual steps follows: Computer based tests: There will be two computer based tests, designed to check the understanding of the different topics covered in the course. For each test: - It will consist of a set of 20 multiple-answer questions, to be completed in 80 minutes. - The test will be considered "passed" if at least 60% of the proposed questions are answered correctly. No contribution to the final score will be considered for a "passed" test. - The test will be considered "passed with merit" if at least 80% of the proposed questions are answered correctly. A test "passed with merit" will contribute +1 to the final score. Independently on the score obtained for this contribution, both tests must be at least "passed" for the global evaluation to be completed. Group project: The capacity to apply the acquired knowledge, designing simple experiments and analyzing their results will be assessed through the evaluation of a group project, performed in collaboration with the Czech Technical University in Prague. In a first step, an expert from Prague will held a lecture in Torino, to introduce the available experimental facilities, its capacities and the possible operations. Then, students will be divided in groups of approximate size 4-7 people each. During a 3-hours experimental session, each group will design experiments which will be remotely performed in Prague in real time. The obtained measurements will be made available to the students, which will then prepare a small report. The total score of this contribution will be in the range 0-3. A minimum score of 1.5 is required to complete the evaluation process. Individual project: During the course, a workshop on Power Exhaust and Plasma-Wall interactions in tokamaks will be held, during which modeling techniques and theoretical approaches will be illustrated. Then, the results of numerical experiments will be provided to the students, and an individual project will be assigned to test their capacity to analyze them and compare with the theory discussed. A written report will be required. The score will be in the range 0-25. A minimum of 12 is required to complete the evaluation process. Oral discussion (optional): If, at the and of the previous steps, a student will have a toltal score of at least 29/30, he/she will have the chance to decide to held an oral discussion. Should the student select this option, one of the theoretical topics of the lectures will be pre-selected together with the teacher, and the student will discuss it in detail. The oral discussion is expected to last between 30’ and 1h. It will deeply ascertain the technical capacity of the student to master both (i) the physical implications of the results discussed and (ii) the mathematical technicalities needed to demonstrate the above-mentioned results. The score of this section will be in the range 0-2, with minimum threshold. If, after summing up to the previous contributions, the student obtaines a score larger than 30/30, it will be granted the “cum laude” result. Students who cannot participate to the class: In case, for whatever reason, a student is not able to participate to more than 50% of the class lectures, the exam procedure will be as follows: a) The student will be required to take the two computer tests, as described above. b) After them, he/she will be asked to pass a written test, with 2 numerical questions. The written test will last 60 min, and will grant a possible score of 28. c) After steps a) and b) the student will have the possibility to ask for an oral discussion following the same rules discussed above. The impossibility to participate to at least 50% of the class lectures will be documented by the student in written form (e.g., a declaration from his/her employer) The students will not be allowed to bring personal notes to the laboratory tests. Any required notes will be provided be the teacher. A pocket computer, a pen and paper will be allowed.

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.