Subject: Conventional Fusion FAQ Glossary Part 0/26 (intro)
Supersedes: <fusion-faq/glossary/intro_817311719@rtfm.mit.edu>
Date: 25 Feb 1996 13:03:44 GMT
Summary: Fusion energy represents a promising alternative to 
         fossil fuels and nuclear fission for world energy 
         production. This Glossary is a compendium of Frequently Used
         Terms in Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Research.  Refer
         to the FAQ on Conventional Fusion for more detailed info
         about topics in fusion research.  This Glossary does NOT 
         discuss unconventional forms of fusion (like Cold Fusion).
X-Last-Updated: 1995/02/26
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.physics.fusion:27548 sci.answers:3954 news.answers:65442

Archive-name: fusion-faq/glossary/intro
Last-modified: 25-Feb-1995
Posting-frequency: More-or-less-monthly
Disclaimer:  While this section is still evolving, it should 
     be useful to many people, and I encourage you to distribute 
     it to anyone who might be interested (and willing to help!!!).


*****************************************************************
Glossary of Frequently Used Terms in Plasma Physics 
     and Fusion Energy Research

Edited by Robert F. Heeter, rfheeter@pppl.gov

###  This file introduces the Conventional Fusion Glossary  ###

# Editorial Note:  

Like any discipline, fusion research has evolved terminology used 
to facilitate discussion.  This includes the scientific vocabulary 
of the discipline, the names of various research machines and 
devices used, the names of various researchers in the field, the 
names of the various research labs and funding authorities, the
mathematical symbols used, and the acronyms frequently used as 
shorthand for some of the above.  

In the case of conventional (magnetic confinement, inertial
confinement, thermonuclear, muon-catalyzed, etc - but not Cold)
fusion, this terminology has grown to the point where newcomers
(including the author of the glossary!) may be intimidated by the 
apparent obscurity of the discussions.  This file is an attempt 
to provide a comprehensive and detailed listing and explanation 
of terms frequently used, so that those new to the group/field 
will be able to understand what is being said, and to contribute 
with a minimum of confusion and frustration.  Many terms are still
missing, and some terms may have less-than-fully-correct entries,
so if you would like to see something added or changed, let me
know.


# Yes, it's a big glossary!

The last time I counted, there were roughly 1000 entries, occupying
something like 300 kilobytes.  But everything is organized 
alphabetically, and to make things even better, each entry is 
coded by type (names, acronyms, types of machines, basic physics 
terms, advanced plasma terms, etc).  Hopefully this will make 
the glossary easier to use. 


# What's in the FUT:  

We started with an initial list supplied by Jim Day 
(Jim.Day@support.com).  To this were added some comments from various
responses I received to the first draft.  I then incorporated terms
from PPPL and other glossaries.  Then acronyms, machine names, 
and names of important scientists were added as they came. 
I added categories for research and funding/political agencies, 
tried to broaden the base of basic science terms, and wrote up 
a few more preliminary definitions based upon explanations that 
have appeared in the newsgroup and in my studies.  Many of the 
terms listed still do not have explanations given.  

Recent drafts have been mostly incremental improvements to 
the previous versions.  New categories of terms have been made, 
the organization has been improved, and of course definitions 
have been added and improved.  

The most recent project has been to incorporate terms from the 
"Glossary of Fusion Energy" published in 1985 by the Office of 
Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) of the U.S. Department 
of Energy.  This has been a fairly major effort, which has
roughly doubled the size of the glossary.  

My current plan for the Glossary is to write entries for terms
used in my classes.  This will be useful to me, as part of 
studying for my upcoming PhD qualifying exam, and hopefully will
also help incoming graduate students, both here and around the
world.  


# What's Needed to Improve the FUT:

I am looking for additional contributions (and improvements) to 
the list.  It would be nice if people posting to the group could
occasionally take a few moments to include definitions of a few 
terms used when you use them; in browsing through the group I 
can then snip out the terms and definitions and simply paste 
them into the evolving Glossary files.  It also would be nice if 
references to the FAQ and the Reading List / Bibliography 
could be given to supplement the Glossary descriptions, at least 
for some of the more complicated terms.


# Comment on Sources:

The terms and definitions occurring here represent a collection
of contributions from numerous sources.  Rather than include
acknowledgements for each individual definition, I have made
blanket acknowledgements below.  I have tried to include 
citations in most cases where only a single textual source 
was used.


# Acknowledgements for the Glossary:
! = someone I believe is a scientist
* = people who are not scientists so far as I know, organizations, etc.

! Jake Blanchard, blanchard@engr.wisc.edu - suggested we have a 
     list of acronyms too.
! Arthur Carlson, awc@ipp-garching.mpg.de - supplied additional 
     definitions, made corrections / amplifications / revisions to
     earlier definitions.
! Edward Chao, ehchao@theory.pppl.gov - info on LANL fusion research,
     additions and corrections to various definitions.
! Albert Chou, albert@seas.ucla.edu - supplied additional 
     definitions, made corrections / amplifications / revisions to 
     earlier definitions.
! John Cobb, johncobb@uts.cc.utexas.edu - lots o' definitions.
! James Crotinger, jac@gandalf.llnl.gov - additional definitions,
     quality control, and comments on the usefulness of the FUT.
* Jim Day, jim.day@support.com - initial list of terms, additional
     definitions, modifications to earlier definitions.
! Steve Fairfax, Fairfax@cmod.pfc.mit.edu - additional definitions
     from the Alcator weekly reports.
* Robin Herman, _Fusion: Search for Endless Energy_; I borrowed a 
     few terms from her glossary.  Cited as (from Herman).  (Many
     of these terms derived from the PPPL glossary I also used.)
! Paul M. Koloc, pmk@prometheus.UUCP - quality control, some entries
! Emilio Martines, martines@pdigi3.igi.pd.cnr.it - quality control,
     reversed-field entries & information.
! Robert Nachtrieb, nachtrieb@pfc.mit.edu - numerous acronyms
* Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, Glossary of Fusion Terms - list of
     terms prepared by PPPL staff at some point.  Consulted in many
     cases, blatantly paraphrased in some, quoted and cited in 
     others.
* Vicki Rosenzweig, vr%acmcr.uucp@murphy.com - Proofreading entries
* Mike Ross, mikeross@almaden.ibm.com - additional Livermore info
     and corrections to some entries.
* Richard Schroeppel, rcs@cs.arizona.edu - suggestions/corrections to
     many definitions.
! Philip Snyder, pbsnyder@theory.pppl.gov - corrections to 
     definitions.
! Paul Stek, Stek@cmod.pfc.mit.edu - additional definitions
!? Mitchell Swarz, mica@world.std.com - supplied additional 
     definitions / corrections and revisions to existing definitions.
* United States Department of Energy, Office of Fusion Energy - 
     for funding fusion research and making everything possible
* United States Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and
     Technical Information - for the 1985 Glossary of Fusion Energy,
     which I have utilized extensively and incorporated into this Glossary.


# This file may be freely distributed; I recommend you retain the
revision date, and in any case I'd like to be cited as the editor. #

# Any and all errors are solely my responsibility. #

#####################
Robert F. Heeter
rfheeter@pppl.gov
Graduate Student, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
(Usual disclaimers apply.)



