Axial shock wave heating of reversed-field theta-pinch plasmas

Reversed-field theta pinches are known to contract rapidly in the axial direction soon after the radial implosion. Under certain conditions the axial implosion can be quite strong. A model is described which simulates both the radial and axial implosions. Among the important features included are realistic plasma density profiles, and current-driven anomalous transport. Given input parameters such as initial fill pressure, bias magnetic field, coil size, applied voltage (or electric field) and compression magnetic field, the model predicts the final plasma temperature, density, radial and axial dimensions, trapped magnetic flux and fraction of particles trapped within the separatrix. The results indicate very strong axial shock heating for high bias field, which leads to temperatures up to several times that predicted for simple field-free plasmas. The model is applied to parameters charcteristic of two recent experiments, and several features of the calculated results are shown to be consistent with experimental observations. It is also applied to a fusion reactor scale plasma: as a result of strong axial shock heating, the model predicts that fusion ignition (e.g., a temperature of 8 keV) can be achieved without resort to large electric field or large magnetic compression