High–Beta Relaxed Plasma Confinement in Field Reversed Configurations

Plasmas with reversed magnetic fields and nonuniform rotational flows are ubiquitous in nature. In the MFE program these plasmas are created in Field-Reversed Confinement [FRC] systems¹ Stability conditions are derived the dynamics formulated for models of the Norman FRC machine². Cylindrical symmetric Grad-Sharfranov³ plasmas p ~ B²/2𝛍_o are derived and simulated. High beta–hot ion FRC plasmas dynamics with differential rotation expressed with Poisson brackets for four fields describing both field line bending and the FLR stabilization. The simulations produce high ion temperature deuterium plasmas with a magnetic separatrix between the closed FRC and open SOL plasmas components.

¹L. Schmitz, et al. Suppressed ion-scale turbulence in a hot high-beta plasma, Nature Communication, 2016 [7:13860 | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13860]

²C. Copenhaver, Axisymmetric toroidal equilibrium with plasma flow, Phys Fluids 1983.

³A. J. Cerfon and P. Freidberg, Phys Plasmas 17, 032502, 2010.