[Table of Contents]

Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 5, 008 (2010)

Regular Articles

Flute-Mode Stability of Quadrupole-Anchored Tandem Mirror Plasmas
Hitoshi HOJO
Plasma Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan
(Received 10 June 2009 / Accepted 8 January 2010 / Published 24 February 2010)

Abstract

We study the flute-mode stability of quadrupole-anchored tandem mirror plasmas. The present analysis is based on Newcomb's Lagrangian density with an assumption of small Larmor radius of ions for paraxial approximation. A radial eigenmode equation for flute perturbations is derived without an eikonal approximation in flux coordinates, where effects of E × B plasma rotation due to an ambipolar electric field are considered. The obtained eigenmode equation is applicable to a mode with an arbitrary azimuthal mode number and can describe interchange, E × B rotational, and Kelvin-Helmholtz modes driven by the shear effect of E × B plasma rotation. A quadratic dispersion equation in perturbation frequency ω is derived based on a simplified cylindrical plasma model and is used to discuss the flute stability of quadrupole-anchored GAMMA 10 tandem mirror plasmas, where the anchor beta required for plasma stability is calculated for the m = 1 and 2 modes for different values of central-cell ambipolar potential.

Keywords

flute-mode stability, tandem mirror plasma, quadrupole-anchor, Newcomb's Lagrangian density, beta value, interchange mode, E × B rotational mode, Kelvin-Helmholtz mode

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.5.008

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This paper may be cited as follows:

Hitoshi HOJO, Plasma Fusion Res. 5, 008 (2010).