Verification of the Taylor (minimum energy) state in a spheromak

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Abstract
Experimental measurements of the equilibrium in the S‐1 spheromak [M. Yamada, J. Sinnis, H. P. Furth, M. Okabayashi, G. Sheffield, T. H. Stix, and A. M. M. Todd, in Proceedings of the US‐Japan Symposium on Compact Toruses and Energetic Particle Injection (Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, 1979), p. 171] by use of magnetic probes inside the plasma show that the final magnetic equilibrium is one that has relaxed close to the Taylor (minimum‐energy) state, even though the plasma is far from that state during formation. The comparison is made by calculating the two‐dimensional μ profile of the plasma from the probe data, where μ is defined as μ0 j∥/B. Measurements using a triple Langmuir probe proved evidence to support the conclusion that the pressure gradients in the relaxed state are confined to the edge region of the plasma.