Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P R Garabedian.
Three-dimensional computer codes have been used to develop quasisymmetric stellarators with modular coils that are promising candidates for a magnetic fusion reactor. The mathematics of plasma confinement raises serious questions about the numerical calculations. Convergence studies have been performed to assess the best configurations. Comparisons with recent data from large stellarator experiments serve to validate the theory.
Compact stellarator designs with modular coils and only two or three field periods are now available; these designs have both good stability and quasiaxial symmetry providing adequate transport for a magnetic fusion reactor. If the bootstrap current assumes theoretically predicted values a three field period configuration is optimal, but if that net current turns out to be lower, a device with two periods and just 12 modular coils might be better. There are also attractive designs with quasihelical symmetry and four or five periods whose properties depend less on the bootstrap current. Good performance requires that there be a satisfactory magnetic well in the vacuum field, which is a property lacking in a stellarator-tokamak hybrid that has been proposed for a proof of principle experiment. In this paper, we present an analysis of stability for these configurations that is based on a mountain pass theorem asserting that, if two solutions of the problem of magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium can be found, then there has to be an unstable solution. We compare results of our theory of equilibrium, stability, and transport with recently announced measurements from the large LHD experiment in Japan.
One of the serious limitations of tokamaks as reactors is the occurrence of disruptions. Stellarators designed by advanced computational methods provide an attractive alternative for a major experiment in magnetic fusion research. Configurations with approximate two-dimensional magnetic symmetry have been found with high beta limits and good transport. Specifications are given for a compact stellarator with three field periods and 18 moderately twisted modular coils that has equilibrium with robust flux surfaces, a deep magnetic well assuring favorable stability, and adequate confinement of hot particles at reactor conditions. Fast computer codes with sufficient accuracy to resolve the mathematical problems of equilibrium, stability and transport that arise in the more complicated geometry of the stellarator have produced this breakthrough. The mathematical analysis of the methods used is presented.
Confinement of a plasma for controlled thermonuclear fusion is studied numerically. Toroidal equilibria are considered, with an emphasis on the Modular Helias-like Heliac 2 (MHH2), which is a stellarator of low aspect ratio with just two field periods surrounded by 16 modular coils. The geometry is fully three-dimensional, but there is an axial symmetry of the magnetic structure that is calculated to give confinement competitive with that in circular tokamaks. Additional vertical and toroidal field coils, together with a current drive, provide the flexibility and the control of rotational transform necessary for a successful experiment. An MHH3 device with three field periods and comparable quasi-axial symmetry is presented, too, and because of reversed shear, its physical properties may be better. Variational analysis of equilibrium and stability is shown to give a more reliable prediction of performance for these stellarators than linearized or local theories that suffer from a failure of differentiability and convergence.