Institutskolloquium des IPP 2016

Raum: HGW S1 (Übertragung Hörsaal D2)
The steep gradients at the plasma edge in a tokamak result in Edge Localized Modes (ELMs), which when extrapolated to burning plasma conditions, will melt the first wall. In order to reduce the steep gradients to below the instability limit, resonant magnetic perturbation (RMPs), a 3D-field magnetic field perturbation are introduced. RMPs can succesfully suppress or mitigate ELMs through an increase in particle transport. In this presentation, I will first address how RMPs affect the magnetic topology at the plasma edge and whether this change in topology can explain the observed changes in particle transport and confinement. Next, I will discuss, how inadvertently RMPs also increase particle transport in the plasma core, which affect global confinement and the ultimate fusion gain factor. [mehr]

Global deposition of radioactive nuclides from the most recent near-Earth supernovae

Institutskolloquium
A two million year old signal of 60Fe was detected in several terrestrial deep-sea archives and in lunar samples. This long-lived isotope is not produced on Earth, however, it is generated in massive stars and ejected during supernova explosions. The recent injection of 60Fe into the solar system coincides with the formation of the Local Bubble - a large cavity in the interstellar medium produced by multiple supernovae - into which our solar system is embedded. The most likely sources are stellar explosions within a moving group that passed the solar neighborhood, and whose surviving members are now in the Sco-Cen association. We have traced the trajectories of the member stars back in time and calculated the most probable explosion sites of the perished stars. By determining their masses and explosion times, we found a sequence of supernovae starting 13 Myr ago. With analytical and numerical methods we modeled the Local Bubble and, as a consequence of its formation, the terrestrial 60Fe signature. Similar calculations with another long-lived radionuclide, 26Al, show only a marginal supernova-signal. Accelerator mass spectrometry measurements of 26Al within samples of four deep-sea sediment cores from the Indian Ocean confirm this result. The data decreases exponentially towards larger depths as expected from 26Al produced in the Earth's atmosphere, which hides a contribution from nearby supernovae. [mehr]

Die Macht der Sprache

Institutskolloquium
Mit unserer Sprache beschreiben wir unsere Wirklichkeit. Was wir benennen ist auch vorhanden. Für was wir kein Wort haben, kann sich auch unser Hirn schlecht vorstellen. Unser Sprachgebrauch ist Teil unserer Wirklichkeit und sie beeinflusst unsere Wahrnehmung. Soweit die Sprachphilosophie. [mehr]
Zur Redakteursansicht