A new theory for the fast compressional pinch

A new theory is reviewed which by using the general principles of energy and momentum balance enables the radius ratio rm/ro of the quasi-equilibrium column of pinch devices to be computed. Because the theory is simple and general it has been used successfully to calculate the radius ratio for a wide variety of pinches ranging from the constant length pinch to the variable length pinch (Plasma focus) and from pinches with fixed specific heat ratio γ to an argon pinch with γ varying with temperature and also to pinches with circuit-coupled currents. Results are compared with published experiments. (author). 12 refs, 3 figs, 1 tab