Deep Dive: The Open Questions

Kronos publishes a ranked register of what it cannot yet claim — confinement verification, the hot-ion posture, divertor detachment, TAE transport, and runaway mitigation.

#1

Confinement H98 = 1.84 (nonlinear CGYRO outstanding)

#2

Hot-ion posture (near-thermal baseline)

#3

Divertor detachment f_rad ≈ 0.998

Also

TAE transport; runaway mitigation

A distinguishing feature of Kronos is that it publishes what it cannot yet claim, ranked and openly. The load-bearing open items:

• Confinement. H98 = 1.84 rests on reduced-order models and the DIII-D database; the nonlinear gyrokinetic (CGYRO) verification is outstanding — the program's biggest bet.
• Hot-ion posture. Not sustainable at the ceiling (S61), so the near-thermal baseline governs.
• Divertor detachment. f_rad ≈ 0.998 is beyond operating precedent, contingent on Super-X flux expansion (S74).
• Energetic-particle transport. TAE drive at β_fast = 1.59% is a named open channel (S67).
• Runaway electrons. Mitigation at 42.5 MA is an open engineering item.

Each is tied to a gate and, via the Falsifiable Seven, to a published prediction. Naming these openly is the core of the "show your work" method.