Evidence for a Pressure-Driven Instability in the CTX Spheromak
- 21 November 1988
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 61 (21) , 2457-2460
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.61.2457
Abstract
Recent improvements in the operation of the CTX spheromak device have produced discharges containing evidence for a pressure-driven instability. The instability leads to a distinct event in the discharge, which can be studied in detail. Data are presented which reasonably discount Taylor relaxation of the current profile as the cause of the event. The critical value of the normalized pressure gradient has been measured and is compared with the Mercier limit.Keywords
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