Loss-Cone Stabilization in Rotating Mirrors: Thresholds and Thermodynamics

Abstract

In the limit of sufficiently fast rotation, rotating mirror traps are known to be stable against the loss-cone modes associated with conventional (non-rotating) mirrors. This paper calculates how quickly a mirror configuration must rotate in order for several of these modes to be stabilized (in particular, the high-frequency convective loss cone, drift cyclotron loss cone, and Dory-Guest-Harris modes). Commonalities in the stabilization conditions for these modes then motivate a modified formulation of the Gardner free energy and diffusively accessible free energy to be used for systems in which the important modes have wave vectors that are orthogonal or nearly orthogonal to the magnetic field, as well as a modification to include the effects of a loss region in phase space.

arXiv comment26 pages, 6 figures

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Massive, Long-Lived Electrostatic Potentials in a Rotating Mirror Plasma
• Upper and Lower Bounds on Phase-Space Rearrangements
• Approximating the Particle Distribution in Rotating and Tandem Mirror Traps
• Retrospective of the ARPA-E BETHE-GAMOW-Era Fusion Programs and Project Cohorts
• Ion Mix Can Invert Centrifugal Confinement