A Critical Comparison between Magnetic and Inertial Confinement Schemes and Their Geometries

Abstract

The interaction mechanism between the plasma and magnetic field in a tokamak does not provide complete magnetic confinement as is usually imagined. Also, the toroidal geometry itself is not particularly well suited for containing a hot plasma. Qualitative arguments reveal an intrinsic superiority of the inertial confinement spherical geometry over any geometry of magnetic confinement for fusion purposes. Moreover, from the point of view of applications, spherical devices such as the inertial electrostatic confinement device and the inertial confinement fusion-spherical pinch are giving immediate spin-offs of industrial interest.

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Nikos A. Salingaros

Nikos A. Salingaros (PhD, physics, State University of New York-Stony Brook, 1978) is an associate professor at the University of Texas-San Antonio. Following a distinguished career in mathematical physics and relativistic field theory, he has developed the “fiber theory” as a new setting for plasma descriptions.