Current Research Project: Tungsten-Collisional Radiative Models in support of Impurity Influx Measurements

A tokamak is a machine that uses magnetic fields to confine plasma in a doughnut shape known as a torus.  It is currently the leading candidate for a practical fusion reactor.  The interior walls are lined with tungsten, with which the magnetically confined plasma will interact.  The resulting impurities have an adverse effect on the nuclear fusion process.  I use Tungsten Collisional Radiative Models, generated by high performance computing clusters, to better understand these plasmas.  I collaborate with an experimental group at Auburn University, Alabama.  We examine spectral lines identified within the plasma to quantify the tungsten impurities present and thus find ways to reduce their effect.

My work also involves the diagnosis of astrophysical plasmas.  I determine the atomic structure of various ions, and calculate their respective scattering, ionisation and recombination rates.  This data assists in the modelling of astrophysical phenomena, such as kilonovae.

Biography:

I graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2023 with a First-Class Honours MPhys in Physics with Astrophysics.  I was awarded the Greer Prize in Physics.  Following my graduation, I undertook the CodeAstro Python program at Northwestern University, Illinois.  My Master’s project investigated some of the larger Trans-Neptunian Objects, including Pluto, Eris, Haumea and Makemake.  I found that data serendipitously detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar could be used to construct well-defined photometric light curves for some TNOs.  These light curves could then be used to confirm properties of these TNOs, such as their physical shape, rotation period and the distribution of surface compounds.

Supervisors:

Professor Connor Ballance and Professor Catherine Ramsbottom