MHD Theory of Fusion Systems
Magnetohydrodynamic theory of plasma confinement in fusion devices, taught at MIT as part of its Nuclear Science and Engineering curriculum. The course derives the basic MHD model from the Boltzmann equation, then applies it to equilibria in cylindrical, toroidal, and noncircular tokamaks, including poloidal field design. Stability theory occupies the second half: the Energy Principle, interchange instability, ballooning modes, the second region of stability, and external kink modes. The organizing question throughout is what magnetic geometries can hold a high-beta plasma together without it tearing itself apart. Materials come through MIT OpenCourseWare as lecture notes and problem sets rather than a video series, aimed at graduate-level students already comfortable with plasma physics fundamentals. There is no certificate, paid or otherwise, since OCW simply publishes the materials for self-study. Free to access and reuse under Creative Commons licensing.