Professor of Physics
Experimental Plasma Physics
(949) 824-5398
Professor Heidbrink earned his B.A. degree from the University of California, San Diego in 1977. For the next two years he performed industrial research in pulsed power at Maxwell Laboratories. In 1984, he received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. After working as a staff member on the TFTR tokamak (Princeton) and the DIII-D tokamak (General Atomics), he joined the UCI Physics Department in 1988. He was the 1995 recipient of the Lauds & Laurels award for Distinguished Teaching and was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1996.
Most of Professor Heidbrink's research involves studies of "fast" ions in tokamak experiments. The research is conducted on the leading magnetic fusion facility in the USA, the DIII-D tokamak in San Diego. The "fast" ions, which are more energetic than the more numerous thermal ions, can be produced in fusion reactions, by injection of neutral beams, or by radio- frequency heating. Most projects involve collaborations between DIII-D researchers and Professor Heidbrink and his students. The U.S. Department of Energy supports the research.
Instabilities that are driven unstable by the free energy in the fast-ion population are a major area of study. Recent work involved detailed studies of various Alfven waves that are destabilized during deuterium neutral beam injection into DIII-D. Current efforts attempt to understand the stability properties of these modes.
In collaboration with Professor Rostoker, Professor Heidbrink has proposed new experiments to test a novel fusion concept: a plasma composed entirely of fast ions and thermal electrons in a field reversed configuration.
In addition to his research, Professor Heidbrink enjoys teaching all levels of the curriculum, from large introductory courses to graduate plasma physics.
Representative Publications
What is the "beta-induced Alfven eigenmode?", W.W. Heidbrink et al., Physics of Plasmas 6 (1999) 1147.
Stable ellipticity-induced Alfven eigenmodes in the Joint European Torus, W.W. Heidbrink, A. Fasoli, D. Borba, and A. Jaun, Physics of Plasmas 4 (1997) 3663.
Comparison between measurements of the poloidal distribution of magnetic fluctuations and theoretical models during TAE activity, W.W. Heidbrink, A. Jaun, and H.A. Holties, Nuclear Fusion 37 (1997) 1411.
Measurements of the neutron source strength at DIII-D, W.W. Heidbrink, P.L. Taylor, and J.A. Phillips, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68 (1997) 536.
Array of neutral particle analyzers at DIII-D, E.M. Carolipio and W.W. Heidbrink, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 68 (1997) 304.