Simons Foundation Courses

Understanding Quasi-isodynamicity

Delve into the fundamentals of quasi-isodynamicity in magnetic field-plasma systems for fusion energy, exploring its characteristics, challenges, and practical applications in stellarator design through near-axis theory.

• YouTube
• 20 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Recent Advances in Stellarator Coil Optimization - March 21, 2025

Explore recent advances in stellarator coil optimization, including strain analysis, force calculations, and innovative methodologies using voxels, dipole arrays, and passive arrays.

• YouTube
• 30 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Design and Optimization of the Columbia Stellarator eXperiment

Explore the design and optimization of the Columbia Stellarator eXperiment (CSX), focusing on novel single-stage optimization techniques that simultaneously address plasma physics requirements and engineering constraints for fusion energy research.

• YouTube
• 21 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

The Non-Perturbative Adiabatic Invariant is All You Need

Discover a non-perturbative, data-driven averaging method for highly-oscillatory dynamical systems with marginal timescale separation, outperforming traditional asymptotic averaging in charged particle contexts.

• YouTube
• 19 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Regularization and Convergence of the Near-Axis Expansion

Dive into the numerical analysis of the near-axis expansion for stellarator configurations, exploring regularization techniques that ensure convergence and examining the relationship between radius of convergence and axis-coil distance.

• YouTube
• 19 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

From Equations to Superconductors - Matter Under Pressure

Discover how extreme pressure transforms matter and enables high-temperature superconductivity in hydrogen-rich compounds through first-principles theoretical predictions.

• YouTube
• 58 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Freezing and Amplification of Water Waves in a Time-Varying Medium

Explore water waves as a versatile platform for studying time-varying media, parametric amplification, wave freezing, and extreme physics phenomena through gravity modulation.

• YouTube
• 47 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Stability Theory of Flat Band Solitons in Nonlinear Wave Systems

Explore stability theory of flat band solitons in nonlinear wave systems, focusing on minimal compact solitons in multi-lattices and engineering nonlinearity for stabilization.

• YouTube
• 51 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Spatiotemporal Modulation for Stability in Space and Time

Explore vibrational electromagnetics and Kapitza-inspired modulation techniques for achieving stability in unstable electromagnetic systems through temporal and spatial control methods.

• YouTube
• 47 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Sharp Features in Spatial and Temporal Wave-Shaping

Explore advanced wave-shaping techniques, focusing optimization, phase-conjugation, time-reversal theory, and applications in photonic inference systems.

• YouTube
• 56 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Extreme Mechanics of Tissues

Explore how chiral processes bridge microscopic and macroscopic scales in tissue mechanics through theory, experiments, and inference algorithms to understand proliferation-driven flows.

• YouTube
• 53 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Extreme Wave Effects Based on Temporal Asymmetries

Explore how temporal symmetries and asymmetries enable extreme electromagnetic and photonic effects, probing fundamental limits in wave physics and spatio-temporal phenomena.

• YouTube
• 1 hour 1 minute
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Programming Tasks in Nonlinear Mechanical Metamaterials - From Wave Management to Sensing

Discover how flexible mechanical metamaterials enable shape morphing, programmable behaviors, and computation through inverse-design frameworks for next-generation smart materials.

• YouTube
• 50 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Floquet Metasurfaces - Time-Driven Wave Systems and Non-Reciprocal Photonic Engineering

Explore time-driven wave systems and metasurfaces enabling exotic phenomena like time reflections, momentum bandgaps, and synthetic rotations in photonic engineering.

• YouTube
• 53 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video

Extrema of the Characteristic Polynomial of CβE Matrices

Explore extrema of characteristic polynomials in CβE matrices and their logarithmically correlated fields, validating the Fyodorov–Hiary–Keating conjecture through rigorous mathematical analysis.

• YouTube
• 58 minutes
• Self-Paced
• Free Video