Related papers: High-$\beta$ equilibrium and ballooning stability …
A new quasi-isodynamic stellarator configuration optimized for the confinement of energetic ions at low plasma $\beta$ is obtained. The numerical optimization is carried out using the STELLOPT suite of codes. New proxies to measure…
To examine the robustness of the designed 5% $\beta$-limit for high-performance operation in the W7-X stellarator, we undertake nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of pressure-driven instabilities using the M3D-$C^1$ code.…
We present nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of high-$\beta$ Wendelstein 7-X plasmas using the stellarator extension of the M3D-$C^1$ code, building on the recent work that shows benign saturation of ideal ballooning modes…
We investigate the linear tearing instability in weakly collisional plasmas using a non-ideal gyrotropic-MHD framework, uncovering a previously unknown scaling relation for the instability growth rate in high-$\beta$ environments. Even…
High-power-density tokamaks offer a potential solution to design cost-effective fusion devices. One way to achieve high power density is to operate at a high $\beta$ value (the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure), i.e., $\beta \sim 1$.…
Maximising particle and energy confinement is crucial for achieving the sustained burning plasma conditions necessary to realise fusion energy. For stellarator reactors, one proposed strategy for avoiding destructive instabilities is to…
Overdense plasmas have been attained with 2.45 GHz microwave heating in the low-field, low-aspect-ratio CNT stellarator. Densities higher than four times the ordinary (O) mode cutoff density were measured with 8 kW of power injected in the…
Microinstabilities exhibit a rich variety of behavior in stellarators due to the many degrees of freedom in the magnetic geometry. It has recently been found that certain stellarators (quasi-isodynamic ones with maximum-$J$ geometry) are…
Quasisymmetry (QS), a hidden symmetry of the magnetic field strength, is known to support nested flux surfaces and provide superior particle confinement in stellarators. In this work, we study the ideal MHD equilibrium and stability of…
To build an economically viable stellarator, it is essential to find a configuration that satisfies a set of favorable properties to achieve efficient steady-state nuclear fusion. One such property is omnigenity, which ensures confinement…
An important question for the outlook of stellarator reactors is their robustness against pressure driven modes, and the underlying mechanism behind experimentally observed soft $\beta$ limits. Towards building a robust answer to these…
It is known that magnetic perturbations can mitigate edge localized modes (ELMs) in experiments, for example MAST (Kirk et al 2013 Nucl. Fusion 53 043007). One hypothesis is that the magnetic perturbations cause a three dimensional…
Ballooning mode saturation is investigated in realistic stellarator configurations using the flux tube approach of Ham et. al. [1] [2]. The method is adapted to account for the lack of exact force balance in stellarator equilibrium solvers…
In magnetic confinement fusion devices, the ratio of the plasma pressure to the magnetic field energy, $\beta$, can become sufficiently large that electromagnetic microinstabilities become unstable, driving turbulence that distorts or…
We construct constant rest-mass sequences of equilibrium models of differentially rotating neutron stars which resemble binary neutron star post-merger remnants. For a more realistic description of the post-merger remnant, we impose that…
The stability of a dilute plasma to local convective and rotational disturbances is examined. A subthermal magnetic field and finite thermal conductivity along the field lines are included in the analysis. Stability criteria similar in form…
We analyze the stability of a thin plasma disk which is rotating around a compact astrophysical object and is embedded in the strong magnetic field of such a source. The aim of this study is the determination of a new type of unstable…
It is shown that in perfectly quasi-isodynamic stellarators, trapped particles with a bounce frequency much higher than the frequency of the instability are stabilizing in the electrostatic and collisionless limit. The collisionless…
Instability to high toroidal mode number ($n$) ballooning modes has been proposed as the primary gradient-limiting mechanism for tokamak equilibria with negative triangularity ($\delta$) shaping, preventing access to strong H-mode regimes…
High-performance fusion plasmas, requiring high pressure $\beta$, are not well-understood in stellarator-type experiments. Here, the effect of $\beta$ on ion-temperature-gradient-driven (ITG) turbulence is studied in Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X),…