Theory and simulation of plasma confinement in RF-plugged open systems

Open-ended plasma confinement due to RF plugs is studied both theoretically and computationally, with attention to fusion applications as well as physical understanding. Self-consistent treatments of RF-plugged plasma states are developed. Characteristic properties such as the plasma sheet structure and the steady-state distribution of plasma and RF field are dealt with in some detail. The adiabaticity condition of line-cusp RF plugging is studied from the single-particle point of view. Plasma confinement in open-ended systems as a whole is investigated by a Monte-Carlo simulation model. The plugs are found to improve the confinement time effectively. (author)