An Introduction to Stellarators: From Magnetic Fields to Symmetries and Optimization

This self-contained book is the first to provide readers with an introduction to the mathematical foundations of stellarator design and modeling. It covers the fundamental theoretical building blocks of modeling magnetic fields, some of the associated challenges, and the main concepts behind optimization for the design of stellarators. The book is divided into two parts, with Part I providing a general introduction to the stellarator concept and Part II describing mathematical models and numerical methods commonly used in stellarator design. The authors derive, present, and discuss relevant models, using equations and figures to demonstrate the main ideas. They carefully select language that is close to the plasma physics literature, while providing enough details to be accessible to a reader without previous background in this field.

Lise-Marie Imbert-Gérard is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on models, analysis, and numerical methods for wave propagation in inhomogeneous media. She works on applications in plasma physics for waves in magnetized plasmas and aeroacoustics for noise propagation around planes. She has received a Cathleen Morawetz fellowship from the Courant Institute, a Leslie Fox Prize from the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (UK), as well as a Department of Energy Early Career Research Award. She was also selected as a 2023 Kavli fellow by the National Academy of Sciences.

Elizabeth J. Paul is an assistant professor at Columbia Engineering, Columbia University. In 2021, she received the Marshall N. Rosenbluth Award from the American Physical Society in recognition of her doctoral work, and in 2023 she received the DOE Early Career Research Award. Prior to joining Columbia University, Dr. Paul was a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Princeton University. She uses theoretical and computational methods to study the magnetic confinement of plasmas for fusion energy sciences. Her research integrates applied mathematical techniques to improve the design of stellarator configurations through numerical optimization. She studies the rich behavior present in three-dimensional magnetic confinement devices, including the nonlinear dynamics of fast particle populations.

Adelle M. Wright is an assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining the faculty at UW-Madison, Dr. Wright was a staff research physicist in the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory’s Theory Department and has held positions at the Australian Academy of Science, where she specialized in managing international scientific engagement. Her research combines high performance scientific computing, multiscale physics modeling, and applied mathematics to understand and predict the macroscopic properties of magnetically confined plasmas.