Published April 1980
| Version v1
Journal article
Critical lengths for high density mirror machines
Description
Critical lengths are found for the stability of mirror-confined plasmas to the convective loss-cone mode (driven absolutely unstable by wave reflection from the mirror throats), using the straight-line ion orbit approximation. Electromagnetic effects are included. For fusion reactor parameters, the critical length in ion Larmor radii is roughly 10β/sup -1/2/ (where β is the ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure). Taking the drift cone instability into account, no mirror fusion plasma can be linearly stable unless there is some warm plasma (about 1%) in the loss cone
Additional details
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Phys. Fluids
- Journal Volume
- 23
- Journal Issue
- 4
- Series
- Phys. Fluids.
- Journal Page Range
- 755-763
- ISSN
- 0031-9171
INIS
- Country of Publication
- United States
- Country of Input or Organization
- United States
- INIS RN
- 11539460
- Subject category
- S70: PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY;
- Descriptors DEI
- ANISOTROPY; BOLTZMANN-VLASOV EQUATION; BOUNDARY CONDITIONS; CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION; DISPERSION RELATIONS; DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS; DRIFT INSTABILITY; HOT PLASMA; ION TEMPERATURE; IONS; LOSS CONE INSTABILITY; MAGNETIC MIRRORS; MAXWELL EQUATIONS; NUMERICAL SOLUTION; ORBITS; THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS; WKB APPROXIMATION
- Descriptors DEC
- CHARGED PARTICLES; CONFIGURATION; DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS; EQUATIONS; INSTABILITY; OPEN PLASMA DEVICES; PLASMA; PLASMA INSTABILITY; PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES; THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES