Vorticity Stabilization of Magnetized Plasmas
Author: F. Winterberg
Requested Type: Consider for Invited
Submitted: 2006-12-12 16:42:52
Co-authors:
Contact Info:
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 N. Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89523
USA
Abstract Text:
It is proposed to bring a magnetized (spheromak-type) plasma surrounded by a solid wall into ultrafast rapid rotation, with the rotational velocity substantially exceeding the Alfvén velocity. There, a completely stable plasma configuration is established, where the current density vector is aligned with the vorticity vector, and the magnetic field vector with the velocity vector. In applying this concept to the stable confinement of a thermonuclear plasma, the rotational velocity must exceed ~10^8 cm/s. This velocity can be reached with lumped parameter transmission lines, intersecting the plasma under an oblique angle. The heat insulation of the plasma from the wall can be done by the thermomagnetic Nernst effect, with a neutron absorbing lithium plasma layer, at the same time breeding lithium. At thermonuclear burn, the plasma becomes a magnetohydrodynamic dynamo driven by convection currents. It there then can also be viewed as an analog of a magnetar (magnetic neutron star).
Characterization: A1,A5
Comments:
