Fast adiabatic compression of a toroidal plasma to thermonuclear ignition

Summary form only given. Fast adiabatic compression of a magnetically confined toroidal plasma is proposed as a means to achieve plasma ignition. The approach relies on producing and compressing a compact toroid. (A compact toroid is essentially a spheromak with an aspect ratio larger than unity.) The basic method of compressing a compact toroid has been described. In the analysis presented, the ignition approach is optimized by minimizing the energy required to create and compress the compact toroid.