Reference Magnetic Coordinates (RMC) for Toroidal Confinement Systems
Authors: Egemen Kolemen, Samuel A. Lazerson, Leonid E. Zakharov
Abstract:
Intrinsically high anisotropy of the fusion plasma creates serious problems in simulations of plasma equilibria
in stellarators and plasma dynamics in tokamak disruptions unless adaptive coordinates aligned with the
magnetic field are used. While in axisymmetric case the poloidal flux function (r, z) = const determines
proper flux coordinates, in 3-D, such a function does not exist. The destruction of nested magnetic surfaces
even by small 3-D perturbations leads to a sudden change of topology of magnetic field. As a result, the
coordinate systems can no longer be based on tracing the magnetic field lines resulting in difficulties for
theory and 3-D numerical simulations.
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Submitted to: 24th IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, San Diego, CA (October 2012)
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Download PPPL-4725 (pdf 447 KB 1 pp)
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