140 research outputs found
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Use of Helical Fields to Allow a Long Pulse Reversed Field Pinch
The maintenance of the magnetic configuration of a Reversed Field Pinch (RFP) is an unsolved problem. Even a toroidal loop voltage does not suffice to maintain the magnetic configuration in axisymmetry but could if the plasma had helical shaping. The theoretical tools for plasma optimization using helical shaping have advanced, so an RFP could be relatively easily designed for optimal performance with a spatially constant toroidal loop voltage. A demonstration that interesting solutions exist is given
Control-matrix approach to stellarator design and control
The full space Z always equal to {l{underscore}brace}Zj=1,..Nz{r{underscore}brace} of independent variables defining a stellarator configuration is large. To find attractive design points in this space, or to understand operational flexibility about a given design point, one needs insight into the topography in Z-space of the physics figures of merit Pi which characterize the machine performance, and means of determining those directions in Z-space which give one independent control over the Pi, as well as those which affect none of them, and so are available for design flexibility. The control matrix (CM) approach described here provides a mathematical means of obtaining these. In this work, the authors describe the CM approach and use it in studying some candidate Quasi-Axisymmetric (QA) stellarator configurations the NCSX design group has been considering. In the process of the analysis, a first exploration of the topography of the configuration space in the vicinity of these candidate systems has been performed, whose character is discussed
Optimizing Stellarators for Turbulent Transport
Up to now, the term "transport-optimized" stellarators has meant optimized to minimize neoclassical transport, while the task of also mitigating turbulent transport, usually the dominant transport channel in such designs, has not been addressed, due to the complexity of plasma turbulence in stellarators. Here, we demonstrate that stellarators can also be designed to mitigate their turbulent transport, by making use of two powerful numerical tools not available until recently, namely gyrokinetic codes valid for 3D nonlinear simulations, and stellarator optimization codes. A first proof-of-principle configuration is obtained, reducing the level of ion temperature gradient turbulent transport from the NCSX baseline design by a factor of about 2.5
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3D simulation studies of tokamak plasmas using MHD and extended-MHD models
The M3D (Multi-level 3D) tokamak simulation project aims at the simulation of tokamak plasmas using a multi-level tokamak code package. Several current applications using MHD and Extended-MHD models are presented; high-{beta} disruption studies in reversed shear plasmas using the MHD level MH3D code, {omega}{sub *i} stabilization and nonlinear island rotation studies using the two-fluid level MH3D-T code, studies of nonlinear saturation of TAE modes using the hybrid particle/MHD level MH3D-K code, and unstructured mesh MH3D{sup ++} code studies. In particular, three internal mode disruption mechanisms are identified from simulation results which agree well with experimental data
Sensitivity of the eigenfunctions and the level curvature distribution in quantum billiards
In searching for the manifestations of sensitivity of the eigenfunctions in
quantum billiards (with Dirichlet boundary conditions) with respect to the
boundary data (the normal derivative) we have performed instead various
numerical tests for the Robnik billiard (quadratic conformal map of the unit
disk) for 600 shape parameter values, where we look at the sensitivity of the
energy levels with respect to the shape parameter. We show the energy level
flow diagrams for three stretches of fifty consecutive (odd) eigenstates each
with index 1,000 to 2,000. In particular, we have calculated the (unfolded and
normalized) level curvature distribution and found that it continuously changes
from a delta distribution for the integrable case (circle) to a broad
distribution in the classically ergodic regime. For some shape parameters the
agreement with the GOE von Oppen formula is very good, whereas we have also
cases where the deviation from GOE is significant and of physical origin. In
the intermediate case of mixed classical dynamics we have a semiclassical
formula in the spirit of the Berry-Robnik (1984) surmise. Here the agreement
with theory is not good, partially due to the localization phenomena which are
expected to disappear in the semiclassical limit. We stress that even for
classically ergodic systems there is no global universality for the curvature
distribution, not even in the semiclassical limit.Comment: 19 pages, file in plain LaTeX, 15 figures available upon request
Submitted to J. Phys. A: Math. Ge
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