Formation and self-healing' of magnetic islands in finite-[beta] Helias equilibria

The behavior of finite-pressure-induced magnetic islands is numerically analyzed for three-dimensional magnetohydrostatic equilibria of the Helias configuration by using a three- dimensional equilibrium code. It is found that an island chain is generated on the 5/6 rational surface, when such a surf...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of plasmas 1994-10, Vol.1:10
Main Authors: Hayashi, T., Sato, T., Merkel, P., Nuehrenberg, J., Schwenn, U.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700340 > Plasma Waves, Oscillations, & Instabilities-- (1992-)
ANNULAR SPACE
CLOSED CONFIGURATIONS
CLOSED PLASMA DEVICES
CONFIGURATION
EQUILIBRIUM
HELICAL CONFIGURATION
HIGH-BETA PLASMA
MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS
MAGNETIC ISLANDS
MAGNETIC SURFACES
MHD EQUILIBRIUM
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
PLASMA
Q DEVICES
SPACE
STELLARATORS
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES 700370 > Plasma Fluid & MHD Properties-- (1992-)
TOROIDAL CONFIGURATION
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Summary:The behavior of finite-pressure-induced magnetic islands is numerically analyzed for three-dimensional magnetohydrostatic equilibria of the Helias configuration by using a three- dimensional equilibrium code. It is found that an island chain is generated on the 5/6 rational surface, when such a surface appears in the plasma region of the finite-[beta] equilibrium. The island chain, however, is not so dangerous as to destroy the plasma confinement even if it appears in a vanishingly small shear region. Thus, a high [beta] equilibrium with clear magnetic surfaces can be realized. Moreover, it is definitely confirmed that the finite pressure effect sometimes exhibits an unexpectedly good aspect, namely, that the vacuum islands are removed as [beta] increases, which can be called self-healing' of islands. This property can be explained by the numerically discovered fact that the phases of islands induced by the finite-pressure effect are always locked in the same phase regardless of [beta].
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.870478