Onset and saturation of the kink instability in a current-carrying line-tied plasma.
An internal kink instability is observed to grow and saturate in a line-tied screw pinch plasma. Detailed measurements show that an ideal, line-tied kink mode begins growing when the safety factor q = (4pi2r2B(z))/(mu0I(p)(r)L) drops below 1 inside the plasma; the saturated state corresponds to a rotating helical equilibrium. In addition to the ideal mode, reconnection events are observed to periodically flatten the current profile and change the magnetic topology.
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
W F
WF
Bergerson
C B
CB
Forest
G
G
Fiksel
D A
DA
Hannum
R
R
Kendrick
J S
JS
Sarff
S
S
Stambler