Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000
Fusion energy research has in the past 40 years focused primarily on the tokamak concept, but recent advances in plasma theory and computational power have led to renewed interest in stellarators. The largest and most sophisticated stellarator in the world, Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), has just started o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Nature Publishing Group
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108159 |
| _version_ | 1811077238513205248 |
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| author | Maisano-Brown, Jeannette D. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Maisano-Brown, Jeannette D. |
| author_sort | Maisano-Brown, Jeannette D. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Fusion energy research has in the past 40 years focused primarily on the tokamak concept, but recent advances in plasma theory and computational power have led to renewed interest in stellarators. The largest and most sophisticated stellarator in the world, Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), has just started operation, with the aim to show that the earlier weaknesses of this concept have been addressed successfully, and that the intrinsic advantages of the concept persist, also at plasma parameters approaching those of a future fusion power plant. Here we show the first physics results, obtained before plasma operation: that the carefully tailored topology of nested magnetic surfaces needed for good confinement is realized, and that the measured deviations are smaller than one part in 100,000. This is a significant step forward in stellarator research, since it shows that the complicated and delicate magnetic topology can be created and verified with the required accuracy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:39:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/108159 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:39:51Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1081592022-09-30T22:07:32Z Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000 Maisano-Brown, Jeannette D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Maisano-Brown, Jeannette D. Fusion energy research has in the past 40 years focused primarily on the tokamak concept, but recent advances in plasma theory and computational power have led to renewed interest in stellarators. The largest and most sophisticated stellarator in the world, Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), has just started operation, with the aim to show that the earlier weaknesses of this concept have been addressed successfully, and that the intrinsic advantages of the concept persist, also at plasma parameters approaching those of a future fusion power plant. Here we show the first physics results, obtained before plasma operation: that the carefully tailored topology of nested magnetic surfaces needed for good confinement is realized, and that the measured deviations are smaller than one part in 100,000. This is a significant step forward in stellarator research, since it shows that the complicated and delicate magnetic topology can be created and verified with the required accuracy. 2017-04-14T13:49:58Z 2017-04-14T13:49:58Z 2017-02 2016-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2041-1723 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108159 Pedersen, T. Sunn et al. “Confirmation of the Topology of the Wendelstein 7-X Magnetic Field to Better than 1:100,000.” Nature Communications 7 (2016): 13493. en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13493 Nature Communications Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Nature Publishing Group Nature |
| spellingShingle | Maisano-Brown, Jeannette D. Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000 |
| title | Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000 |
| title_full | Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000 |
| title_fullStr | Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000 |
| title_short | Confirmation of the topology of the Wendelstein 7-X magnetic field to better than 1:100,000 |
| title_sort | confirmation of the topology of the wendelstein 7 x magnetic field to better than 1 100 000 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108159 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT maisanobrownjeannetted confirmationofthetopologyofthewendelstein7xmagneticfieldtobetterthan1100000 |