Tokamak plasma turbulence visualization

One of the most fundamental issues in magnetic fusion research is the understanding of turbulent transport observed in present-day tokamak experiments. Plasma turbulence is very challenging from a theoretical point of view due to the nonlinearity and high dimensionality of the governing equations. Recent developments in algorithms along with the astounding advances in high performance computing now make first-principle particle simulations an important tool for improved understanding of such phenomena. Due to the five dimensional phase space (3 spatial, 2 velocity) and complex toroidal geometry, visualization is crucial for interpreting such simulation data. This paper discusses how visualization tools are currently used and what new physics has been elucidated, along with what can be learned about tokamak turbulence through the interplay between theory, simulation and visualization.<>