University of Texas-led Team Solves a Big Problem for Fusion Energy

May 5, 2025 • by Marc Airhart

Their method to speed up the design of “magnetic bottles” offers an answer to a complex 70-year-old challenge.

An abstract, colorful pattern resembling topographic maps. The design features concentric, oval-shaped rings in vibrant shades of blue, green, red and orange. The background is filled with intricate textures and speckles in lighter blue tones.

Predicted motions of hundreds of particles in a fusion reactor. The motions predicted with the new method (orange, red) agree very closely with those predicted by Newton’s laws (blue, green), but can be calculated 10 times faster. Image credit: Max Ruth/University of Texas at Austin.


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