Jürgen Nührenberg

{{Infobox scientist

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| name = Jürgen Nührenberg

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1942|02|02}}

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| nationality = German

| fields = Plasma physics

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| education = University of Göttingen
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Ph.D.)

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| thesis_title = Lineare und toroidale magnetohydrostatische Gleichgewichte

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| thesis_year = 1969

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• Hannes Alfvén Prize (2010)

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Jürgen Nührenberg (born February 2, 1942, in Berlin) is a German plasma physicist.

Nührenberg studied physics at the University of Göttingen and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he received his doctorate from {{Interlanguage link|Arnulf Schlüter|lt=|de|Arnulf Schlüter|qid=Q697727}} in 1969 (translated: Linear and Toroidal Magnetohydrostatic Equilibria).{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUAzAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Lineare+und+toroidale+magnetohydrostatische+Gleichgewichte%22&pg=PA2277|title=Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports|date=1970|publisher=NASA, Office of Scientific and Technical Information|language=en}} He was a post-doctoral student at the University of Iowa and the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences of New York University. In 1971, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching near Munich, where he dealt with the theory of stellarators for controlled nuclear fusion.

In 1979, he became the head of the group "Theorie dreidimensionaler Systeme" (Theory of three-dimensional systems) and in 1981 the head of the group "Stellaratorphysik" (Stellarator Physics). In 1996, he became a scientific member of the IPP. In 1997, he became the Greifswald branch director of the IPP and a professor at the University of Greifswald.{{Cite web|title=Gemeinsame Berufung an IPP und Universität Greifswald|url=https://www.ipp.mpg.de/ippcms/de/presse/archiv/07_97_pi|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.ipp.mpg.de|language=de}}

In the 1980s, Nührenberg and Allen Boozer developed methods to optimize the magnetic field of the stellarator in such a way that the stability of plasma confinement became comparable to those of the tokamak. In contrast to tokamaks, stellarators work continuously but have more complicated magnetic fields that do not have simple rotational symmetry. Boozer formulated conditions of stability for the stellarator magnetic fields (including quasi-symmetry) and Nührenberg showed that these could be implemented in concrete magnetic field configurations.{{Cite journal|last1=Beidler|first1=Craig|last2=Grieger|first2=Günter|last3=Herrnegger|first3=Franz|last4=Harmeyer|first4=Ewald|last5=Kisslinger|first5=Johann|last6=Lotz|first6=Wolf|last7=Maassberg|first7=Henning|last8=Merkel|first8=Peter|last9=Nührenberg|first9=Jürgen|last10=Rau|first10=Fritz|last11=Sapper|first11=Jörg|date=1990|title=Physics and Engineering Design for Wendelstein VII-X|journal=Fusion Technology|language=en|volume=17|issue=1|pages=148–168|doi=10.13182/FST90-A29178|bibcode=1990FuTec..17..148B |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0027-655E-7|issn=0748-1896|hdl-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Grieger|first1=G.|last2=Beidler|first2=C.|last3=Harmeyer|first3=E.|last4=Lotz|first4=W.|last5=KißLinger|first5=J.|last6=Merkel|first6=P.|last7=Nührenberg|first7=J.|last8=Rau|first8=F.|last9=Strumberger|first9=E.|last10=Wobig|first10=H.|date=1992|title=Modular Stellarator Reactors and Plans for Wendelstein 7-X|journal=Fusion Technology|language=en|volume=21|issue=3P2B|pages=1767–1778|doi=10.13182/FST92-A29977|bibcode=1992FuTec..21.1767G |issn=0748-1896}} These concepts were then experimentally realized in the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator and later paved the way for the development of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Greifswald.{{Cite web|title=Wendelstein 7-AS|url=https://www.ipp.mpg.de/2665443/w7as|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.ipp.mpg.de|language=en}} Since 1990, Nührenberg has been a member of the project management team involved in the planning of the Wendelstein 7-X and has played a key role in its development.

In 2010, he received the Hannes Alfvén Prize with Allen Boozer for "the formulation and practical application of criteria allowing stellarators to have good fast-particle and neoclassical energy confinement".{{Cite web|title=Europäische Auszeichnung für IPP-Plasmaphysiker|url=https://www.ipp.mpg.de/ippcms/de/presse/pi/08_10_pi|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.ipp.mpg.de|language=de}}{{Cite web|title=Alfvén Prize {{!}} European Physical Society – Plasma Physics Division|url=http://plasma.ciemat.es/eps/awards/alfven-prize/|access-date=2020-06-13|language=en-US}}