On Thursday at Princeton University, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) celebrated the start of operations for the Facility for Laboratory Reconnection Experiments (FLARE) with a private ribbon-cutting event. More than 50 people gathered for the invitation-only affair, including officials from the Department of Energy (DOE), the university and PPPL.
Featuring a device that is 12 feet long, 9 feet in diameter and weighing more than 10 tons, FLARE represents the next generation of research into fundamental plasma physics.
“This is the day when we deliver FLARE to the world,” said PPPL Director Steve Cowley. “We have fulfilled our promise to design and build this one-of-a-kind device and offer it to the scientific community. I expect FLARE to produce important insights for plasma science in the coming years, and I just can’t wait.”
FLARE allows researchers to study magnetic reconnection, a phenomenon that occurs when magnetic field lines snap apart and join again, releasing enormous amounts of energy. Reconnection occurs throughout the universe and powers giant plasma eruptions on the sun’s surface known as solar flares.
These eruptions can generate strong winds of electrically charged particles that stream into the solar system. They can also strike Earth’s outer atmosphere, damaging communications satellites, global positioning systems and electrical grids, potentially leading to blackouts and internet outages. Moreover, reconnection occurs inside doughnut-shaped fusion devices known as tokamaks, disrupting the crucial fusion reactions and interfering with operations.
Understanding exactly how reconnection causes solar flares and tokamak disruptions can help reduce damage caused to communications networks and enhance the stability of tokamak operations. This research demonstrates PPPL’s expertise in astrophysical and fusion plasma studies.
“FLARE is a new research platform with capabilities that scientists have not had access to before,” said Hantao Ji, a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton, a distinguished research fellow at PPPL and FLARE’s principal investigator. “It will provide information about magnetic reconnection that spacecraft, computer simulations and other laboratory experiments cannot provide. It’s a new way of doing research that goes beyond what is currently available.”
FLARE is designed to test a hypothesis about magnetic reconnection that could enhance knowledge of this fundamental phenomenon. Reconnection occurs when magnetic field lines — the imaginary paths along which the effects of magnetism flow — approach one another, then suddenly break apart and reattach in new configurations. This process is enormously powerful; when it occurs on the sun’s surface and other stars, it can release the amount of energy in trillions of tons of TNT.
Christian Newton, chief of staff at the DOE’s Office of Science, remarked that FLARE demonstrates that the national laboratory system strengthens America’s national research efforts and provides a significant competitive edge. “By investing in long-term scientific research, the national laboratories produce results that can bolster the rest of America’s science and technology sectors,” he said.
Jean Paul Allain, the DOE’s associate director for Fusion Energy Sciences, also stressed the unique capabilities and contributions of national laboratories. “Labs like PPPL can take big risks to build infrastructure that answers big questions,” he said. “FLARE is a perfect example.”
FLARE is known as a collaborative research facility. This designation means that scientists from around the world can submit a research proposal and work with PPPL scientists to determine the scope of the experiment and foster long-term collaborations.
“That’s our hope,” said Jongsoo Yoo, deputy head of discovery plasma science, a PPPL principal research physicist and a member of the FLARE team. “We want to work with experts around the world.”
The opening of FLARE is a significant step toward understanding the complicated physics happening in outer space, on the surface of stars and in devices built to study and harness fusion energy.
“FLARE matters to PPPL and the world because it’s important for both astrophysical and fusion plasma studies,” Ji said. “This next-generation machine confirms that we are both a national and international leader in this research.”
A virtual tour of FLARE is available here.
