Mechanical injection of magnetic helicity

A novel technique for the injection of magnetic helicity into a closed volume is described. In this new approach, mechanical energy is converted directly into the production of magnetic helicity. Several geometries illustrate the flexibility of the approach. The application of mechanical injection of magnetic helicity to a magnetically insulated impact fusion system is briefly described. In this application, a β>>1 spheromak plasma is produced by impact of electrically conducting shells. Magnetic helicity is injected by the relative motion of these shells and subsequent plasma relaxation produces the spheromak magnetic field