ANALYSES OF K-SURFACES OF SOME MIRROR CUSP TYPE MAGNETIC SYSTEMS BASED ON RESULTS OBTAINED BY USING AN ELECTRON ANALOG DEVICE AS A MODEL.
Abstract
Previous analyses have shown that energetic charged particles in the presence of complex magnetic fields of mirror cusp systems will seek regions of minimum potential energy. The boundaries of these regions are surfaces in three-dimensional space which may be defined as K = constant, where K is a Hamiltonian Function. Under proper transformation, the K-Surfaces, which may be called constant energy surfaces, can be plotted in a manner similar to contour lines on an earth map. A completely closed constant energy surface represents the boundary of a volume in which charged particles of a discrete energy will be confined. Computer analyses of the 4-, 6-, and 8-bar mirror cusp type configurations have been performed, using an Electron Analog device as a field generating model of a plasma confinement system. The analyses corroborated the results of previous studies and two new conclusions can be drawn; (1) a K-Surface has the same basic configuration as a (B) surface; (2) and apparently it is possible to scale up the characteristics of ion and electron orbits from a knowledge of the K-Surface contours of a particular magnetic system. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0807980
Entities
People
- Elmer White
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory