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Turbulent Inward Pinch of Plasma Confined by a Levitated Dipole Magnet
ARTICLES PUBLISHED ONLINE: 24 JANUARY 2010 | DOI: 10.1038/NPHYS1510 Turbulent inward pinch of plasma confined by a levitated dipole magnet A. C. Boxer1, R. Bergmann1, J. L. Ellsworth1, D. T. Garnier2, J. Kesner1, M. E. Mauel2* and P. Woskov1 The rearrangement of plasma as a result of turbulence is among the most important processes that occur in planetary magnetospheres and in experiments used for fusion energy research. Remarkably, fluctuations that occur in active magnetospheres drive particles inward and create centrally peaked profiles. Until now, the strong peaking seen in space has been undetectable in the laboratory because the loss of particles along the magnetic field is faster than the net driven flow across the magnetic field. Here, we report the first laboratory measurements in which a strong superconducting magnet is levitated and used to confine high-temperature plasma in a configuration that resembles planetary magnetospheres. Levitation eliminates field-aligned particle loss, and the central plasma density increases markedly. The build-up of density characterizes a sustained turbulent pinch and is equal to the rate predicted from measured electric-field fluctuations. Our observations show that dynamic principles describing magnetospheric plasma are relevant to plasma confined by a levitated dipole. ince the discovery of the Earth's radiation belts more than fifty sustained by plasma heating. Although the inward turbulent pinch years ago, observations of energetic particles trapped in the has been observed before in tokamak devices used for fusion SEarth's dipole magnetic field have illustrated a remarkable and energy research13–17, turbulent transport of plasma in a dipole field non-intuitive process: random, low-frequency fluctuations caused results in pronounced central peaking and a turbulent pinch that by solar activity create diffusion that drives particles inward towards is easily detected. -
Pressure Profiles of Plasmas Confined in the Field of a Dipole Magnet
Pressure profiles of plasmas confined in the field of a dipole magnet Matthew Stiles Davis SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 c 2013 Matthew Stiles Davis All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Pressure profiles of plasmas confined in the field of a dipole magnet Matthew Stiles Davis Understanding the maintenance and stability of plasma pressure confined by a strong magnetic field is a fundamental challenge in both laboratory and space plasma physics. Using magnetic and X-ray measurements on the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX), the equilibrium plasma pressure has been reconstructed, and variations of the plasma pressure for different plasma conditions have been examined. The relationship of these profiles to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability limit, and to the enhanced stability limit that results from a fraction of energetic trapped electrons, has been analyzed. In each case, the measured pressure profiles and the estimated fractional densities of energetic electrons were qualitatively consistent with expectations of plasma stability. LDX confines high temperature and high pressure plasma in the field of a supercon- ducting dipole magnet. The strong dipole magnet can be either mechanically supported or magnetically levitated. When the dipole was mechanically supported, the plasma density profile was generally uniform while the plasma pressure was highly peaked. The uniform density was attributed to the thermal plasma being rapidly lost along the field to the me- chanical supports. In contrast, the strongly peaked plasma pressure resulted from a fraction of energetic, mirror trapped electrons created by microwave heating at the electron cyclotron resonance (ECRH). -
Density Profiles of Plasmas Confined by the Field of a Levitating, Dipole
Density Profiles of Plasmas Confined by the Field of a Levitating, Dipole Magnet by Alexander C. Boxer Submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY September 2008 c Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2008. All rights reserved. Author.............................................................. Department of Physics September 5, 2008 Certified by. Jay Kesner Senior Research Scientist Thesis Supervisor Certified by. Miklos Porkolab Professor of Physics Thesis Supervisor Accepted by . Thomas Greytak Chairman, Department Committee on Graduate Students 2 Density Profiles of Plasmas Confined by the Field of a Levitating, Dipole Magnet by Alexander C. Boxer Submitted to the Department of Physics on September 5, 2008, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics Abstract A 4-channel microwave interferometer (center frequency: 60 GHz) has been con- structed to measure the density profiles of plasmas confined within the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX). LDX is the first and only experiment built to study plas- mas confined by the field of a levitating, dipole magnet in a geometry that exploits plasma compressibility to achieve stability. Theoretical predictions|based partly on observations of planetary magnetospheres|suggest that dipole-confined plasmas will be driven by fluctuations into pressure and density profiles that are \stationary" to MHD interchange modes. The stationary pressure profile is characterized by an equal amount of entropy per flux-tube while the stationary density profile is characterized by an equal number of particles per flux-tube. These predictions are of interest to nu- clear fusion research since they imply that the pressure and density profiles of dipole- confined plasmas can be simultaneously peaked and stable. -
High-Energy Electron Confinement in a Magnetic Cusp Configuration
PHYSICAL REVIEW X 5, 021024 (2015) High-Energy Electron Confinement in a Magnetic Cusp Configuration Jaeyoung Park,1,* Nicholas A. Krall,2 Paul E. Sieck,1 Dustin T. Offermann,1 Michael Skillicorn,1 Andrew Sanchez,1 Kevin Davis,1 Eric Alderson,1 and Giovanni Lapenta3 1Energy Matter Conversion Corporation (EMC2), 9155 Brown Deer Road, San Diego, California 92121, USA 21070 America Way, Del Mar, California 92104, USA 3Center for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, University of Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium (Received 22 October 2014; published 11 June 2015) We report experimental results validating the concept that plasma confinement is enhanced in a magnetic cusp configuration when β (plasma pressure/magnetic field pressure) is of order unity. This enhancement is required for a fusion power reactor based on cusp confinement to be feasible. The magnetic cusp configuration possesses a critical advantage: the plasma is stable to large scale perturbations. However, early work indicated that plasma loss rates in a reactor based on a cusp configuration were too large for net power production. Grad and others theorized that at high β a sharp boundary would form between the plasma and the magnetic field, leading to substantially smaller loss rates. While not able to confirm the details of Grad’s work, the current experiment does validate, for the first time, the conjecture that confinement is substantially improved at high β. This represents critical progress toward an understanding of the plasma dynamics in a high-β cusp system. We hope that these results will stimulate a renewed interest in the cusp configuration as a fusion confinement candidate. -
Strong Turbulent Pinch of Plasma Confined by a Levitated Dipole
PSFC/JA-10-22 Strong Turbulent Pinch of Plasma Confined by a Levitated Dipole Magnet 1 1 1 2 A.C. Boxer , R. Bergmann , J.L. Ellsworth , D.T. Garnier , 1 2 1 J. Kesner , M.E. Mauel , P. Woskov 1Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. 2Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10027, USA. Plasma Science and Fusion Center Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge MA 02139 USA December 2010 LDX is a joint research project of Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is supported by the USDOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences with Grants DE-FG02-98ER54458 and DE-FG02-98ER54459. Reproduction, translation, publication, use and disposal, in whole or in part, by or for the United States government is permitted. Strong Turbulent Pinch of Plasma Confined by a Levitated Dipole Magnet A.C. Boxer,1 R. Bergmann,1 J.L. Ellsworth,1 D.T. Garnier,2 J. Kesner,1 M.E. Mauel,2∗ P. Woskov1 1Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts 02139, USA. 2Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, New York, 10027, USA. ∗e-mail: [email protected]. The rearrangement of plasma due to turbulence is among the most important processes that occur in planetary magnetospheres and in experiments used for fusion energy research. Re- markably, fluctuations that occur in active magnetospheres drive particles inward and create centrally peaked profiles. Until now, the strong peaking seen in space has been undetectable in the laboratory because the loss of particles along the magnetic field is faster than the net driven flow across the magnetic field.