Physics of reversed-field pinch profile sustainment
A description of the Reversed-Field Pinch (RFP) is given, emphasizing the necessity of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) or kinetic process to sustain field reversal. Three sustainment mechanisms are reviewed: the MHD dynamo, the tangled discharge model, and nonlocal resistivity. A slab model of steady (ohmic) states is described. A relationship between ohmic state wave numbers and the minimum amplitude of nonsymmetric field components is given. If ohmic states are the sole source of the sustainment process, their wave lengths are probably much longer than the minor diameter of the plasma. Otherwise field asymmetries would exceed those observed in experiments. It is noted that internal field data are still limited, restricting the generality of our comments.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 6712595
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-84-2023; CONF-840616-19; ON: DE84014024
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International conference on plasma physics, Lausanne, Switzerland, 27 Jun 1984
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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