Spheromak Impedance and Current Amplification
It is shown that high current amplification can be achieved only by injecting helicity on the timescale for reconnection, {tau}{sub REC}, which determines the effective impedance of the spheromak. An approximate equation for current amplification is: dI{sub TOR}{sup 2}/dt {approx} I{sup 2}/{tau}{sub REC} - I{sub TOR}{sup 2}/{tau}{sub closed} where I is the gun current, I{sub TOR} is the spheromak toroidal current and {tau}{sub CLOSED} is the ohmic decay time of the spheromak. Achieving high current amplification, I{sub TOR} >> I, requires {tau}{sub REC} <<{tau}{sub CLOSED}. For resistive reconnection, this requires reconnection in a cold zone feeding helicity into a hot zone. Here we propose an impedance model based on these ideas in a form that can be implemented in the Corsica-based helicity transport code. The most important feature of the model is the possibility that {tau}{sub REC} actually increases as the spheromak temperature increases, perhaps accounting for the ''voltage sag'' observed in some experiments, and a tendency toward a constant ratio of field to current, B {proportional_to} I, or I{sub TOR} {approx} I. Program implications are discussed.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- US Department of Energy (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 15004646
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-ID-147087; TRN: US0304915
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PDF-FILE: 16 ; SIZE: 0.5 MBYTES; PBD: 31 Jan 2002
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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