PREFACE

Abstract

This special issue of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion contains papers based on invited talks and poster contributions presented at the 10th IAEA Technical Meeting on H-mode Physics and Transport Barriers. This meeting was held at the Hotel Moscow in St Petersburg, Russia, 28–30 September 2005. The meeting was organized by the Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. This was the tenth meeting of a series (San Diego 1987, Gut Ising 1989, Abingdon 1991, Naka 1993, Princeton 1995, Kloster Seeon 1997, Oxford 1999, Toki 2001, San Diego 2003).The meeting programme was divided into six topics. The topics were: Internal transport barriers: critical issues Edge transport barriers: pedestal stability/dynamics and ELMs Transport barriers in non-axisymmetric devices Transport barrier theories Turbulence behaviour in the presence of transport barriers Improved confinement projections/issues for burning devices For each topic there was an invited talk whose purpose was to present an overview of the topic, based on contributions to the meeting and on recently published external results. The other purpose of the talks was to initiate discussions around the topics. The discussion consisted of short presentations by contributing speakers and comments from the audience. For each topic there was an associated poster session for contributed papers, of which there were about 80 in total.The topics were focused on the physics of internal and edge transport barriers with special consideration of critical and unresolved issues. Similarities and differences of barrier physics in axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric devices were extensively reviewed to get mutual benefits for communities involved in the corresponding studies. Developments in the theory of transport barrier formation since the previous meeting were featured. Open questions of a turbulence behaviour in the presence of barriers were pointed out. Since transport barriers are planned to be utilized in reactor devices and in ITER particularly, various aspects of barrier physics in burning plasmas were discussed.The selection of topics and invited speakers and general organization of the scientific programme were carried out by the International Advisory Committee, consisting of: R Groebner (GA, USA) T S Hahm (PPPL, USA) A Hubbard (MIT, USA) K Ida (NIFS, Japan) S V Lebedev (Ioffe, Russia, Chair) G Saibene (EFDA, Germany) W Suttrop (IPP, Germany) T Takizuka (JAERI, Japan) I am very grateful to the committee members for their enthusiastic work preparing the meeting scientific programme. I would also like to thank Leonid Askinazi, Vladimir Sergeev, Alexander Tukachinsky and Nickolay Zhubr, members of the Local Organizing Committee, for their great input in the organization of the meeting.