Experimental Verification of the Kruskal-Shafranov Stability Limit in Line-Tied Partial Toroidal Plasmas

Oz, E. ; Myers, C. E. ; Yamada, M. ; Ji, H. ; Kulsrud, R. M. ; Xie, J.

Princeton University. Plasma Physics Laboratory.

关键词: Electrodes;    70 Plasma Physics And Fusion Technology;    Magnetic Reconnection;    Gas Discharges, Kink Instability, Mhd Instability;    Verification Gas Discharges, Kink Instability, Mhd Instability;   

RP-ID  :  PPPL-4642
RP-ID  :  DE-ACO2-09CH11466
RP-ID  :  1030419

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The stability properties of partial toroidal flux ropes are studied in detail in the laboratory, motivated by ubiquitous arched magnetic structures found on the solar surface. The flux ropes studied here are magnetized arc discharges formed between two electrodes in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) [Yamada et al., Phys. Plasmas, 4, 1936 (1997)]. The three dimensional evolution of these flux ropes is monitored by a fast visible light framing camera, while their magnetic structure is measured by a variety of internal magnetic probes. The flux ropes are consistently observed to undergo large-scale oscillations as a result of an external kink instability. Using detailed scans of the plasma current, the guide field strength, and the length of the flux rope, we show that the threshold for kink stability is governed by the Kruskal-Shafranov limit for a flux rope that is held fixed at both ends (i.e., qa = 1).