A one-dimensional stability transport code has been developed to simulate the evolution of tokamak plasma discharges. Explicit finite-difference methods have been used to follow the temporal evolution of the electron temperature equation. The poloidal field diffusion equation has been solved at every time step. The effects of MHD instabilities have been incorporated by solving equations for MHD mixing and tearing modes as and when required. The code has been applied to follow the evolution of tokamak plasma discharges obtained in the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) tokamak. From these simulations, we have been able to identify the possible models of thermal conductivity, diffusion and impurity contents in these discharges. Effects of different MHD modes have been estimated. It has been found that in low q₀ discharge m=1, n=1 and m=2, n=1 modes play major role in discharge evolution. These modes are found to result in the positive jump in the loop voltage which was also observed in the experiments. Hollow current density profile j_φ and negative shear in the q profile have also been found in the rising phase of a discharge.

Low edge safety factor discharges including very low q_a (1<q_a<2) and ultra low q_a (0<q_a<1) have been obtained in the SINP tokamak. It has been observed that accessibility of these discharges depends crucially on the fast rate of plasma current rise. Several interesting results in terms of different time scales like T_qa · τ_R etc have been obtained using a set of softwares developed at SINP. From fluctuation analysis of the external magnetic probe data it has been found that MHD instabilities m=1, n=1 and m=2, n=1 etc. play major role in the evolution of these discharges. To investigate the internal details of these discharges, an internal magnetic probe system has been developed using which current density j_φ and other related parameters have been estimated. By carrying out a resistive stability analysis, evidence of the above-mentioned MHD instabilities have again been found. The physical processes lying behind the accessibility and evolution of the low q_a discharges have been thoroughly investigated.

In the backdrop of many models, the heavy cluster structure of the ground state of $^{24}$Mg has been probed experimentally for the first time using the heavy cluster knockout reaction $^{24}$Mg($^{12}$C, $^{212}$C)$^{12}$C in thequasifree scattering kinematic domain. In the ($^{12}$C, $^{212}$C) reaction, the direct $^{12}$C-knockout cross-section was found to be very small. Finite-range knockout theory predictions were much larger for ($^{12}$C, 212C) reaction,indicating a very small $^{12}$C−$^{12}$C clustering in $^{24}$Mg(g.s.). Our present results contradict most of the proposed heavy cluster ($^{12}$C+$^{12}$C) structure models for the ground state of $^{24}$Mg.