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The stability of a plasma is an important consideration in the study of plasma physics. When a system containing a plasma is at equilibrium, it is possible for certain parts of the plasma to be disturbed by small perturbative forces acting on it. The stability of the system determines if the perturbations will grow, oscillate, or be damped out. In many cases, a plasma can be treated as a fluid and its stability analyzed with magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).
Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, along with inertial confinement fusion. The magnetic approach began in the 1940s and absorbed the majority of subsequent development. Fusion reactions combine light atomic nuclei such as hydrogen to form heavier ones such as helium, producing energy.
A tokamak (ˈtoʊkəmæk; токамáк) is a device which uses a powerful magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus. The tokamak is one of several types of magnetic confinement devices being developed to produce controlled thermonuclear fusion power. , it was the leading candidate for a practical fusion reactor. Tokamaks were initially conceptualized in the 1950s by Soviet physicists Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov, inspired by a letter by Oleg Lavrentiev. The first working tokamak was attributed to the work of Natan Yavlinsky on the T-1 in 1958.
This thesis delves into the potential of magnetic fusion energy, and in particular focuses on the stellarator concept. Stellarators use external coils to produce 3-dimensional (3D) magnetic fields that confine a thermonuclear plasma in a topologically toro ...
Gyrotrons are a class of high-power vacuum-electronics microwave sources, which are envisioned to play an important role in the domain of magnetically confined fusion plasmas. Indeed, only gyrotrons are capable of producing continuous electromagnetic waves ...
Turbulence driven by small-scale instabilities results in strong heat and particle transport, which significantly shortens the confinement time and prevents the formation of a self-sustained plasma reaction in magnetic confinement devices. Control and poss ...