Investigation of magnetic mirror configurations at the WiPPL facility and their applications

The Wisconsin Plasma Physics Lab (WiPPL) has a unique flexibility to experimentally study various magnetic mirror geometries. Recently, two distinct types of mirror plasmas were made: one with axial current and one without. The former allows for confinement and stability properties to be explored and, further, may serve as a viable, cheap, simple fusion neutron source design. The latter allows for the creation of flux rope turbulence important for studying coronal loop heating. Axial current can additionally provide a mirror plasma with high beta turbulence or one that can serve as a plasma target for reconnection experiments. Initial data gives mirror plasmas as dense as 2x10^{19} m^{-3} with 8eV electrons/ions and betas ranging from 0.1 to 10. WiPPL has also performed a number of numerical calculations for plasma stability in mirrors. Specifically, non-paraxial (spherical) mirrors are predicted to stabilize the m = 1 flute mode due to their favorable curvature. Further analysis in the ballooning approximation has shown stability with respect to high-m modes. Future non-paraxial mirror experiments at WiPPL will hope to confirm these stability properties. Magnetic mirrors improve confinement and provide a great base plasma for studying reconnection, turbulence, and stability.