Plasma turbulence, mm-wave scattering by turbulence and fast ion transport studies in TORPEX

The TORPEX device is a basic plasma physics experiment located at the Swiss Plasma Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. Due to its ample diagnostic coverage and its toroidal geometry, TORPEX allows for plasma studies of interest in tokamak physics without the demanding requirements of operation of fusion grade devices. Two such areas of research are turbulence and particle transport, in which TORPEX has made important contributions and continues to prove its usefulness and versatility. We report our findings in recent experiments on millimeter-wave scattering by field-aligned structures (so-called blobs), time-resolved detection of fast ions propagating in a turbulent plasma, and high spatial resolution observations of blobs. This last item is the first application of a diagnostic developed to image plasma structures with high spatial resolution.