Plasma Response to Resonant Perturbations at Tokamak Edge

In certain circumstances, plasma response suppresses magnetic islands expected at perturbed resonant magnetic surfaces. We investigate the plasma response to the resonant magnetic perturbations in a large aspect ratio tokamak perturbed by external resonant helical windings, considering polar toroidal coordinates for which analytical toroidal equilibrium solutions and perturbing fields are available. We apply an empirical approach to mimic the plasma screening effects by introducing presumed plasma current sheets on the resonance surfaces to cancel the RMP effects. Numerical examples show the effect of plasma response reducing magnetic islands at the plasma edge and also regularizing field lines around the resonant surface. The distribution of connection lengths along the plasma cross section indicates that the plasma response increases the connection lengths since more toroidal turns are performed until a field line reaches the tokamak wall.     

The structure of chaotic magnetic field lines in a tokamak withexternal nonsymmetric magnetic perturbations

We consider the effects of external nonsymmetric magnetostatic perturbations caused by resonant helical windings and a chaotic magnetic limiter on the plasma confined in a tokamak. The main purpose of both types of perturbation is to create a region in which field lines are chaotic in the Lagrangian sense: two initially nearby field lines diverge exponentially through many turns around the tokamak. The equilibrium field is obtained from the equations of magneto-hydrodynamic equilibrium written down in a polar toroidal coordinate system. The magnetic fields generated by the resonant helical windings and the chaotic magnetic limiter are obtained through an analytical solution of Laplace equation. The magnetic field line equations are integrated to give a Hamiltonian mapping of field lines that we use to characterize the structure of chaotic field lines. In the case of resonant windings, we obtained the map by both numerical integration and a Hamiltonian formulation. For a chaotic limiter, we analytically derived a symplectic map by using a Hamiltonian formulation     

Theoretical Optimization of Stellarators

Net current free toroidal ("stellarator") confinement is studied with a combination of several methods: a complete set of analytical vacuum fields for finding favorable vacuum field configurations; three-dimensional MHD codes for finite-?, equilibrium computations; the expansion of a general toroidal equilibrium around its magnetic axis as guideline for the computational search in configurational space and for finite-?, MHD stability; Monte Carlo simulations for particle containment; continuous modular coil systems generating the configurations considered. Results are: vacuum field configurations with sizeable Q = 0, 1, 2, 3 helical fields, substantial twist number (? 1/2), significant reduction of the parallel current density, and vacuum magnetic well exist for a toroidal aspect ratio of 15-20 and can be generated by modular coils whose excursions from meridional planes are small compared to the toroidal period length. In these configurations, the finite-? toroidal shift is strongly reduced, so that a larger ? value (factor 2-4) than in the equivalent Q = 2 stellarator can be achieved. Stability calculations do not exclude the possibility of stable equilibria of this kind with (?) ? 0.05-0.1; transport calculations without electrical field show improvement-as compared to the Q = 2 stellarator-in the collisional and plateau regimes.     

Topology of toroidal helical fields in non-circular cross-sectional tokamaks

The ordinary differential magnetic field line equations are solved numerically; the tokamak magnetic structure is studied on Hefei Tokamak-7 Upgrade （HT-TU） when the equilibrium field with a monotonic q-profile is perturbed by a helical magnetic field. We find that a single mode （m, n） helical perturbation can cause the formation of islands on rational surfaces with q=m/n and q=（m±1,±2,±3,...）/n due to the toroidicity and plasma shape （i.e. elongation and triangularity）, while there are many undestroyed magnetic surfaces called Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser （KAM） barriers on irrational surfaces. The islands on the same rational surface do not have the same size. When the ratio between the perturbing magnetic field Br（r） and the toroidal magnetic field amplitude Bφ0 is large enough, the magnetic island chains on different rational surfaces will overlap and chaotic orbits appear in the overlapping area, and the magnetic field becomes stochastic. It is remarkable that the stochastic layer appears first in the plasma edge region.     

Experimental Studies on the Sustainment of Splieromak Plasmas by an Inductive Drive of the Toroidal Current

Sustainment of spheromak plasmas produced in an external equilibrium field has been demonstrated with a center current transformer (ohmic heating (OH) coil) which is used to inductively drive the toroidal current of the plasma. The OH coil is covered by a cylindrical metal liner. It provides the stability against the tilt and shift motions of spheromaks at the expense of the simple connection of its geometry. Since the spheromak is characterized by the elimination of external toroidal fields in association with nonconservation of a toroidal flux during magnetic relaxation, the metal liner was made electrically disconnected from the main vacuum vessel (spheromak mode). In the experiments, existense of the dynamo effect, meaning automatic generation of toroidal flux similar to that of a reversed field pinch (RFP), is observed. Measured MHD activity consists of multihelicity helical modes with toroidal mode numbers N = 1-3. In order to investigate the difference between spheromaks and RFP's in the MHD activity during sustainment, experiments have also been made with the metal liner of the OH coil connected with the vessel (RFP mode). The dynamics of the MHD activities observed are compared with those obtained from the three-dimensional MHD simulations by Katayama and Katsurai [18], and their implication in the dynamo effect is discussed.     

OHTE: A Helical Pinch with Pitch Reversal

The OHTE configuration is obtained by surrounding a reversed field pinch (RFP) with a stellarator-like helical winding whose pitch is chosen to enhance field line pitch reversal. The helical coil current needed to form a separatrix boundary is calculated analytically for a simple plasma model, which gives results in close agreement with a numerical two-dimensional (2-D) MHD equilibrium code. Basic properties of the field line transform, which is predominantly in the axial or toroidal direction, are investigated. The 2-D equilibrium code is used to investigate the effects of current profiles and high beta, and the OHTE is compared with the RFP. These calculations show that the helical winding can significantly enlarge the parameter space for interchangestable finite-? equilibria with pitch reversal while avoiding axial current reversal.     

New approach to transport improvement in a helical magnetic axis system by introduction of effective toroidal curvature

A new approach to transport improvement in a helical magnetic axis stellarator is proposed. First of all, the proposal is presented for the L = 1 system. The effective toroidal curvature term epsilon(T), defined as the sum of the usual toroidal curvature and one of the nearest satellite harmonics of the helical field, determines confinement conditions of localized trapped particles. There exists a certain correlation between the smallness of epsilon(T) and the omnigeneity. This approach would give rise to the possibility of a stellarator design study in a wider parameter domain than quasisymmetry approaches.     

非均匀纵向场对等离子体平衡的影响

讨论了纵向不均匀磁场导致磁面与等离子的畸变。对于锐边界情形和具有体电流分布情形求解了平衡方程，特别是给出了磁面变形依赖于各参量变化的表达式。     

An analytic solution of the stationary MHD equations for a rotating toroidal plasma

An analytic MHD equilibrium for an axisymmetric torodial plasma with toroidal and toroidal flow is obtained in the limit of small ratio of poloidal to toroidal magnetic field and small beta. For a critical value of the poloidal velocity a limitation of the domain of validity of the solution appears.     

Core-collapse supernovae: Magnetorotational explosions and jet formation

Core-collapse supernovae are accompanied by formation of neutron stars. The gravitational energy is transformed into the energy of the explosion, observed as SN II, SN Ib,c type supernovae. We present results of 2D MHD simulations, where the source of energy is rotation and the magnetic field serves as a “transition belt” for the transformation of the rotation energy into the energy of the explosion. The toroidal part of the magnetic energy initially grows linearly with time due to differential rotation. When the twisted toroidal component strongly exceeds the poloidal field, magneto-rotational instability develops, leading to a drastic acceleration in the growth of magnetic energy. Finally, a fast MHD shock is formed, producing a supernova explosion. A mildly collimated jet is produced for the dipolelike type of the initial field. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Versuche zum toroidalen Einschluß von Hoch-Beta-Plasmen mit Hilfe von helischen Multipolfeldern

Helical multipole fields with multiplicities of 1 to 3 and up to 16 field cycles around the circumference of the torus are superposed on a toroidal theta pinch. The vacuum fields of the configurations are calculated and regions of closed flux surfaces are found. The experimental results are:

1. Equilibria of High-Beta plasmas also exist, if the vacuum field has no absolute minimum, provided that the region of closed flux surfaces in the vacuum field has a greater diameter than the plasma, and that the helical multipole fields do not periodically increase and decrease the gradient of the toroidal main field. These equilibria are possibly unstable.
2. If the helical multipole fields periodically increase and decrease the gradient of the theta pinch field along the circumference of the torus there is no equilibrium, even if the helical curvature of the field lines is great.
3. The main cause of the losses is the escape of particles along the field lines.

     

Current drive for rotamak plasmas

Experiments which have been undertaken over a number of years have shown that a rotating magnetic field can drive a significant non-linear Hall current in a plasma. Successful experiments of this concept have been made with a device called rotamak. In its original configuration this device was a field reversed configuration without a toroidal magnetic field but with a vertical field to establish the MHD equilibrium. However, modifications have shown that current can also be driven if a central current-carrying rod is used to provide an applied toroidal field. The new rotamak has then a spherical tokamak magnetic field structure. Article presented at the International Conference on the Frontiers of Plasma Physics and Technology, 9–14 December 2002, Bangalore, India.     

磁螺度(helicity)注入电流驱动实验的平衡反演

磁螺度注入是一种国际上正处于探索性研究阶段的极富吸收力的电汉驱动方案,尤其对于球环堆芯更具有至和关重要的意义。对磁螺度注入电流驱动实验进行平衡反演工作,将实验数据进行理论分析研究,拟合所有的测量数据以确立实际的等离子体位形,平衡的磁拓扑结构以及环向电流的空间分布,从而确定闭合橛面区的驱动电流大小以及等离子体的性质,计算结果表明等离子体具有托卡马克型ｑ分布,环向电汉分布呈中空形,磁面结构为有三角形变     

Multipolar Structure of Equilibrium Shear Flow Field in Toroidal Plasmas

The multipolar velocity field structures are investigated by 2D momentum conservation equation with 3D equilibrium sheared flows in the full toroidal system. Numerical results show that the non-existence of radial velocity field in equilibrium surfaces is suitable only for the zero-order term of our 2D simulation. The non-zero-order radial velocity field is still preserved, even when converted to conventional magnetic surface coordinates. The distribution of velocity field vectors of the order of 1, 2, and 3 are presented respectively in 2, 4, and 6 polar fields with the local vortex structure. The excitation mechanisms of these velocity vortices are the coupling effects of the magneto-fluid structure patterns and the toroidal effects. These results can help us understand the complexity of core physics, the transverse transport across magnetic field by the radial plasma flow and the formation of velocity vortices.     

HL-2M等离子体对共振磁扰动线圈电流相位响应的模拟

在HL-2M托卡马克平衡位形(Ip=1.0MA,βN=1.62,q95=4.01)下,使用环形单流体程序MARS-F研究了等离子体对共振磁扰动(RMP)线圈电流相位差的响应.在最优相位差时,扰动磁场显著地改变边界层磁场的拓扑,形成明显的磁岛链,增加了等离子体在边界层的输运,降低了压强梯度,减小了对ELM的驱动.模拟结果...     

Magnetic microhelix coil structures

Together with the well-known ferro- and antiferromagnetic ordering, nature has created a variety of complex helical magnetic configurations. Here, we design and investigate three-dimensional microhelix coil structures that are radial-, corkscrew-, and hollow-bar-magnetized. The magnetization configurations of the differently magnetized coils are experimentally revealed by probing their specific dynamic response to an external magnetic field. Helix coils offer an opportunity to realize microscale geometries of the magnetic toroidal moment, observed so far only in bulk multiferroic materials.     

Magnetic field in a finite toroidal domain

The magnetic field structure in a domain surrounded by a closed toroidal magnetic surface is analyzed. It is shown that ergodization of magnetic field lines is possible even in a regular field configuration (with nonvanishing toroidal component). A unified approach is used to describe magnetic fields with nested toroidal (possibly asymmetric) flux surfaces, magnetic islands, and ergodic field lines.     

Control of asymmetric magnetic perturbations in tokamaks

The sensitivity of tokamak plasmas to very small deviations from the axisymmetry of the magnetic field |deltaB/B| approximately 10{-4} is well known. What was not understood until very recently is the importance of the perturbation to the plasma equilibrium in assessing the effects of externally produced asymmetries in the magnetic field, even far from a stability limit. DIII-D and NSTX experiments find that when the deleterious effects of asymmetries are mitigated, the external asymmetric field was often made stronger and had an increased interaction with the magnetic field of the unperturbed equilibrium. This Letter explains these counterintuitive results. The explanation using ideal perturbed equilibria has important implications for the control of field errors in all toroidal plasmas.     

Hamilton-Jacobi theory for continuation of magnetic field across a toroidal surface supporting a plasma pressure discontinuity

The vanishing of the divergence of the total stress tensor (magnetic plus kinetic) in a neighborhood of an equilibrium plasma containing a toroidal surface of discontinuity gives boundary and jump conditions that strongly constrain allowable continuations of the magnetic field across the surface. The boundary conditions allow the magnetic fields on either side of the discontinuity surface to be described by surface magnetic potentials, reducing the continuation problem to that of solving a Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The characteristics of this equation obey Hamiltonian equations of motion, and a necessary condition for the existence of a continued field across a general toroidal surface is that there exist invariant tori in the phase space of this Hamiltonian system. It is argued from the Birkhoff theorem that existence of such an invariant torus is also, in general, sufficient for continuation to be possible. An important corollary is that the rotational transform of the continued field on a surface of discontinuity must, generically, be irrational.     

Current-carrying element based on second-generation high-temperature superconductor for the magnet system of a fusion neutron source

Application of current-carrying elements (CCEs) made of second-generation high-temperature superconductor (2G HTS) in magnet systems of a fusion neutron source (FNS) and other fusion devices will allow their magnetic field and thermodynamic stability to be increased substantially in comparison with those of low-temperature superconductor (LTS) magnets. For a toroidal magnet of the FNS, a design of a helical (partially transposed) CCE made of 2G HTS is under development with forced-flow cooling by helium gas, a current of 20–30 kA, an operating temperature of 10–20 K, and a magnetic field on the winding of 12–15 T (prospectively ~20 T). Short-sized samples of the helical flexible heavy-current CCE are being fabricated and investigated; a pilot-line unit for production of long-sized CCE pieces is under construction. The applied fabrication technique allows the CCE to be produced which combines a high operating current, thermal and mechanical stability, manufacturability, and low losses in the alternating modes. The possibility of fabricating the CCE with the outer dimensions and values of the operating parameter required for the FNS (and with a significant margin) using already available serial 2G HTS tapes is substantiated. The maximum field of toroidal magnets with CCEs made of 2G HTS will be limited only by mechanical properties of the magnet’s casing and structure, while the thermal stability will be approximately two orders of magnitude higher than that of toroidal magnets with LTS-based CCEs. The helical CCE made of 2G HTS is very promising for fusion and hybrid electric power plants, and its design and technologies of production, as well as the prototype coils made of it for the FNS and other tokamaks, are worth developing now.