Paolo Ricci

Paolo Ricci earned his Master's degree in nuclear engineering at the Politecnico di Torino, Turin (Italy) in 2000. His doctoral studies were conducted at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, with focus on kinetic simulation of magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail. He spent two-and-a-half years as a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College Department of Physics and Astronomy, where he worked on gyrokinetic simulations of the Z pinch. He joined the EPFL Swiss Plasma Center, as a EURATOM fellow in 2006, was named Tenure Track Assistant Professor in June 2010, Associate Professor in August 2016, and Full Professor in October 2023. He is the Director of the Swiss Plasma Center and he heads its theory group. Paolo Ricci is the recipient of the 2016 Section de Physique Teaching Prize, of the 2021 Craie d'Or award from the EPFL physics bachelor students, and of the 2021 Polysphère d'Or award from AGEPoly.

Ph.D. Theses

Here you can find
the list of Ph.D. theses.

Research interests

Numerical simulation of laboratory plasmas and plasmas for fusion, plasma turbulence and instabilities, basic plasma physics, large-scale numerical simulations, numerical methods for plasma physics.

Selected publications

2023

Plasma turbulence simulations in a diverted tokamak with applied resonant magnetic perturbations

T. Boinnard; A. J. Caeiro Heitor Coelho; J. Loizu; P. Ricci

Nuclear Fusion. 2023. DOI : 10.1088/1741-4326/acd403.

Paolo Ricci

Ph.D. Theses

Research interests

Selected publications

2023

Plasma turbulence simulations in a diverted tokamak with applied resonant magnetic perturbations

2022

Global fluid simulation of plasma turbulence in a stellarator with an island divertor

Validation of edge turbulence codes in a magnetic X-point scenario in TORPEX

2021

Theory-based scaling laws of near and far scrape-off layer widths in single-null L-mode discharges

2020

Four-dimensional drift-kinetic model for scrape-off layer plasmas

Persistent random walks of charged particles across magnetic field lines

Investigation of turbulent transport regimes in the tokamak edge by using two-fluid simulations

Cathodoluminescent screen imaging system for seeded blob detection in toroidal plasma experiment

Characterizing time intermittency in non-diffusive fast ion transport through plasma turbulence

Shaping effects on scrape-off layer plasma turbulence: A rigorous validation of three-dimensional simulations against TCV measurements

Turbulence and flows in the plasma boundary of snowflake magnetic configurations

2019

Particle transport at arbitrary timescales with Poisson-distributed collisions

The role of basic plasmas studies in the quest for fusion power

Truncated Levy motion through path integrals and applications to nondiffusive suprathermal ion transport

Nonlinear Gyrokinetic Coulomb Collision Operator

Time intermittency in nondiffusive transport regimes of suprathermal ions in turbulent plasmas

Millimeter-wave beam scattering by edge-plasma density fluctuations in TCV

Linear theory of electron-plasma waves at arbitrary collisionality

Blob velocity scaling in diverted tokamaks: A comparison between theory and simulation

2018

Simulation of plasma turbulence in the periphery of diverted tokamak by using the GBS code

Meandering particle bunches and a link between averages of time series of particle counts and higher-order moments

Theory of the Drift-Wave Instability at Arbitrary Collisionality

Three-dimensional simulations of plasma turbulence in the RFX-mod scrape-off layer and comparison with experimental measurements

2017

Scrape-off-layer current loops and floating potential in limited tokamak plasmas

A drift-kinetic analytical model for scrape-off layer plasma dynamics at arbitrary collisionality

Uncertainty propagation by using spectral methods: A practical application to a two-dimensional turbulence fluid model

Understanding and suppressing the near Scrape-Oﬀ Layer heat flux feature in inboard-limited plasmas in TCV

Impact of neutral density fluctuations on gas puff imaging diagnostics

Poloidal asymmetry in the narrow heat flux feature in the TCV scrape-off layer

Blob properties in full-turbulence simulations of the TCV scrape-off layer

A methodology for the rigorous verification of Particle-in-Cell simulations

A comparison between a refined two-point model for the limited tokamak SOL and self-consistent plasma turbulence simulations

Plasma shaping effects on tokamak scrape-off layer turbulence

Velocity shear, turbulent saturation, and steep plasma gradients in the scrape-off layer of inner-wall limited tokamaks

2016

Plasma turbulence in the scrape-off layer of the ISTTOK tokamak

Multi-code analysis of scrape-off layer filament dynamics in MAST

A theoretical interpretation of the main scrape-off layer heat-flux width scaling for tokamak inner-wall limited plasmas

Computational challenges in magnetic-confinement fusion physics

The GBS code for tokamak scrape-off layer simulations

X-Point Effect on Plasma Blob Dynamics

Non-diffusive transport of suprathermal ions by intermittent turbulent structures

Blob dynamics in the TORPEX experiment: a multi-code validation

2015

Superdiffusive transport in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas

A first-principles self-consistent model of plasma turbulence and kinetic neutral dynamics in the tokamak scrape-off layer

Plasma turbulence, suprathermal ion dynamics and code validation on the basic plasma physics device TORPEX

Approaching the investigation of plasma turbulence through a rigorous verification and validation procedure: A practical examplea)

Comparison of 3D flux-driven scrape-off layer turbulence simulations with gas-puff imaging of Alcator C-Mod inner-wall limited discharges

Simulation of the scrape-off layer region of tokamak devices

Numerical approach to the parallel gradient operator in tokamak scrape-off layer turbulence simulations and application to the GBS code

Nondiffusive transport regimes for suprathermal ions in turbulent plasmas

Finite ion temperature effects on scrape-off layer turbulence

2014

Basic characterization of TORPEX electrostatic modes in closed field line configurations

Statistical analysis and modeling of intermittent transport events in the tokamak scrape-off layer

Transport equation describing fractional Lévy motion of suprathermal ions in TORPEX

Effect of the limiter position on the scrape-off layer width, radial electric field and intrinsic flows

Intrinsic toroidal rotation in the scrape-off layer of tokamaks

Verification methodology for plasma simulations and application to a scrape-off layer turbulence code

Theory of the scrape-off layer width in inner-wall limited tokamak plasmas

Three-dimensional simulations of blob dynamics in a simple magnetized torus

Aspect ratio effects on limited scrape-off layer plasma turbulence

2013

Theory-based scaling of the SOL width in circular limited tokamak plasmas

On the electrostatic potential in the scrape-off layer of magnetic confinement devices

Turbulent regimes in the tokamak scrape-off layer

Basic investigations of electrostatic turbulence and its interaction with plasma and suprathermal ions in a simple magnetized toroidal plasma

Ideal ballooning modes in the tokamak scrape-off layer