Observation Of A Nonaxisymmetric Magnetohydrodynamic Self-Organized State

Articles you may be interested in Self-consistent simulations of nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics and profile evolution in stellarator configurationsa) Self-organized T e redistribution during driven reconnection processes in high-temperature plasmas A collisionless self-organizing model for the high-confinement (H-mode) boundary layer A nonaxisymmetric stable magnetohydrodynamic ͑MHD͒ equilibrium within a prolate cylindrical conducting boundary has been produced experimentally at Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment ͑SSX͒ ͓M. R. Brown et al., Phys. Plasmas 6, 1717 ͑1999͔͒. It has m = 1 toroidal symmetry, helical distortion, and flat ␭ profile. Each of these observed characteristics are in agreement with the magnetically relaxed minimum magnetic energy Taylor state. The Taylor state is computed using the methods described by A. Bondeson et al. ͓Phys. Fluids 24, 1682 ͑1981͔͒ and by J. M. Finn et al. ͓Phys. Fluids 24, 1336 ͑1981͔͒ and is compared in detail to the measured internal magnetic structure. The lifetime of this nonaxisymmetric compact torus ͑CT͒ is comparable to or greater than that of the axisymmetric CTs produced at SSX; thus suggesting confinement is not degraded by its nonaxisymmetry. For both one-and two-spheromak initial state plasmas, this same equilibrium consistently emerges as the final state.