Magnetic surfaces
Our definition: If a magnetic field line stays within a surface, coming arbitrarily close to any point on the surface, then that surface is a magnetic surface.
Example: Irrational surfaces in stellarators, RFP’s, tokamaks
Counter-examples: Pure toroidal field, dipole field, Penning trap, mirror
Concept highly developed in fusion - good single particle confinement and good MHD stability
Studies of nonneutral plasmas in magnetic surfaces are just beginning
- Theory of equilibrium: This talk
- Experiments:
- Prototype Ring Trap, U. Tokyo (since 1999)
- Columbia Non-neutral Torus (conceptual design, this talk)