Current Drive In Expanding and Compressing Plasma
Authors: Paul F. Schmit
Abstract:
A magnetized plasma preseeded with an initially undamped Langmuir wave is shown to transition
suddenly to a collisionless damping regime upon expansion of the plasma perpendicular to
the background magnetic field. The collisional relaxation of the resulting modified, anisotropic
particle distribution then generates electrical current. The current drive efficiency of this effect in
nonstationary plasmas is shown to depend on the rate of expansion of the plasma. Subsequent
re-compression of the plasma enhances this current drive effect by reducing the collision rate of the
current-carrying electrons.
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Submitted to: Physical Review Letters (January 2012)
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Download PPPL-4722 (pdf 2.23 MB 5 pp)
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