Neoclassical theory of transport processes in toroidal magnetic confinement systems, with emphasis on non-axisymmetric configurations

Abstract

The paper constitutes a review of the neoclassical theory of transport processes in the different types of toroidal magnetic configuration now being used to study the possibility of producing a controlled thermonuclear reaction. Owing to the abundance of the material that has accumulated in recent years and the large number of parameters involved in the problem, it has not been possible to present all the mathematical calculations in detail while confining the results to a few definitive expressions. The general approach to a solution of the problem and its key aspects have been discussed as fully as possible, and a number of definitive results are presented. In the review, a history of the subject and an account of its present status are given, the problem itself is formulated, the basic equations are discussed and analytical solution methods are described. Definitive expressions are given for cross-field particle and energy fluxes, the bootstrap current and conductivity, all of which are required to solve the particle and heat balance equations in magnetic confinement devices. The results are presented in a relatively simple form which is convenient for analysis of the experimental data and are accompanied by tables containing numerical values for the universal coefficients in the definitive expressions. The review is aimed at both theoreticians and experimenters working in high-temperature plasma physics and controlled thermonuclear fusion.

Neoclassical momentum transport in a collisional stellarator and a rippled tokamak

“…(16), (18) and (21), and the latter by Eqs. (26) - (28). This has allowed us to obtain the necessary condition for intrinsically ambipolar particle transport in such a field, given by Eq.…”

“…[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] and other publications. A good overview of the earlier work is given in the review paper [28].…”

Low-aspect-ratio stellarators with planar coils

“…As was discussed in [23], the neoclassical theory [24][25][26][27][28] predicts the following global energy-confinement time-scalings depending on the collisionality. For the so-called plateau regime of intermediate collisionality…”

Gyrokinetic calculations of the neoclassical radial electric field in stellarator plasmas

“…Lewandowski (1) , J. Williams (2) , A.H. Boozer (2) and Z. Lin (1) (1) Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, P.O.…”

“…Lewandowski (1) , J. Williams (2) , A.H. Boozer (2) and Z. Lin (1) (1) Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, P.O. Box 451, Princeton NJ 08543 (2) Department of Applied Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (February 26, 2001) Abstract A novel method to calculate the neoclassical radial electric field in stellarator plasmas is described.…”