1980Journal of Plasma PhysicsRequires access

Plasma equilibrium in toroidal l = 3 stellarators

P. J. Fielding, W. N. G. Hitchon

Open publisher page 11 citations

Abstract

The equations of MHD equilibrium are solved by including plasma pressure and current in a large aspect-ratio ordering scheme for the calculation of toroidal, l = 3 stellarator vacuum fields. The extended ordering unifies the low-beta equilibrium theory for tokamaks and l = 3 stellarators, and allows solutions to be obtained simply for arbitrarily prescribed pressure and current density profiles. Expressions are given for the equilibrium magnetic field and the equation for the flux surfaces is calculated, including the effects of l = 3 shaping and toroidal displacement. These results are used to calculate equilibria for the parameters of CLEO stellarator, and we examine the role of an externally applied vertical field in reducing pressure-induced flux surface distortion and destruction.

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What this paper is about

The equations of MHD equilibrium are solved by including plasma pressure and current in a large aspect-ratio ordering scheme for the calculation of toroidal, l = 3 stellarator vacuum fields. The extended ordering unifies the low-beta equilibrium theory for tokamaks and l = 3 stellarators, and allows solutions to be obtained simply for arbitrarily prescribed pressure and current density profiles. Expressions are given for the equilibrium magnetic field and the equation for the flux surfaces is calculated, including the effects of l = 3 shaping and toroidal displacement. These results are used to calculate equilibria for the parameters of CLEO stellarator, and we examine the role of an externally applied vertical field in reducing pressure-induced flux surface distortion and destruction.

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Available abstract

The equations of MHD equilibrium are solved by including plasma pressure and current in a large aspect-ratio ordering scheme for the calculation of toroidal, l = 3 stellarator vacuum fields. The extended ordering unifies the low-beta equilibrium theory for tokamaks and l = 3 stellarators, and allows solutions to be obtained simply for arbitrarily prescribed pressure and current density profiles. Expressions are given for the equilibrium magnetic field and the equation for the flux surfaces is calculated, including the effects of l = 3 shaping and toroidal displacement. These results are used to calculate equilibria for the parameters of CLEO stellarator, and we examine the role of an externally applied vertical field in reducing pressure-induced flux surface distortion and destruction.

Key concepts: Physics, Toroid, Plasma, Stellarator, Quantum electrodynamics, Classical mechanics, Nuclear physics

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