Ponderomotive force and rotational effects on the stability of plasmas in a tandem mirror

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5333983

Chun, S T

Analytical and numerical analyses are presented to study the effects of electromagnetic waves and an equilibrium radial electric field on the stability of plasmas in a tandem mirror. A kinetic approach derived from the Vlasov equation is used to include the microscopic effects arising from the finite Larmor radius and plasma temperature effects. Electromagnetic waves give rise to a time-independent force in a plasma known as the ponderomotive force. This force can affect the stability of plasmas as has been demonstrated experimentally in the Phaedrus tandem mirror. The results from our analyses are consistent with the experimental results. The ponderomotive force component from the left-hand-circularly polarized wave is not singular at w/sub rf/ = Omega/sub ci/, which is contrary to the prediction of the fluid approach. Here, w/sub rf/ is the frequency of the electromagnetic wave and W/sub ci/ is the ion cyclotron frequency. The ponderomotive force component from the right-hand polarized wave depends slightly on the plasma temperature and thus the cold plasma approximation (fluid or single particle analysis) is valid in this case. The analysis of the rotational effects and the finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects confirms the well-known theory that the m = 1 rigid flute mode is not affected by the plasma rotation and FLR effects, but that the m greater than or equal to 2 modes can be stabilized by the FLR effects

• Research Organization: Wisconsin Univ., Madison (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5333983
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700103* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Kinetics
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
MAGNETIC MIRRORS
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
OSCILLATIONS
PLASMA
POLARIZATION
PULSES
RADIATIONS
ROTATING PLASMA
STABILITY
TANDEM MIRRORS
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES