Simulation of Alpha Particles in Rotating Plasma Interacting With a Stationary Ripple

Author

Fetterman, Abraham J. ; Fisch, Nathaniel J.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Astrophys. Sci., Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ, USA

Volume

39

Issue

11

fYear

2011

Firstpage

2948

Lastpage

2949

Abstract

Superthermal E × B rotation can provide magnetohydrodynamic stability and enhanced confinement to axisymmetric mirrors. However, the rotation speed has been limited by phenomena at end electrodes. A new prediction is that rotation might instead be produced using a magnetic ripple and alpha particle kinetic energy, in an extension of the alpha channeling concept. The interaction of alpha particles with the ripple results in visually interesting and practically useful orbits.

Keywords

mirrors; plasma confinement; plasma instability; plasma magnetohydrodynamics; plasma simulation; plasma transport processes; alpha channeling concept; alpha particle kinetic energy; alpha particle simulation; axisymmetric mirror; electrodes; enhanced confinement; magnetohydrodynamic stability; rotating plasma; rotation speed; stationary magnetic ripple; superthermal rotation; Alpha particles; Electrodes; Kinetic energy; Magnetic resonance imaging; Plasmas; Potential energy; Stability analysis; Magnetic confinement; plasma devices; plasma simulation; plasma waves;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2011.2159851

Filename

5962363