We review present status of mirror fusion research. GAMMA 10 results about thermal barrier/plug potential formation, axial confinement, radial transport and stability are mainly presented. Scaling laws obtained experimentally are compared with existing theories. The prospect for a tandem mirror reactor is discussed. Experimental results in other tandem mirrors are also briefly reported.
In chap. 1, the physical meaning and the temporal evolution on the non-inductive current drive in toroidal systems will be described in short. In chap. 2, the theories of current drive are presented. In §2-1, the general theory, as well as the quasi-linear theory on the lower hybrid and the electron cyclotron current drives will be given.
The maximum entropy method for computerized tomography is studied on two improved algorithms saving the computation time, which are based on the differential equation approach and the Frieden-Ables constraint. It is shown by simulation and experiment that they are superior to a classical algorithm with respect to the reconstruction of the three-dimensional ion velocity distribution of plasma using the retarding-grid analyzer. Improved profiles of ion beam in velocity space are presented on a weakly ionized plasma.
A new reconstruction method from the data obtained by laser blow-off Li-beam probing and the best observation condition are given through numerical analysis for the measurement of electron density profile at tokamak edge. It includes the effect of velocity spread of beam particles, and can be applied to the electron density above 1012cm-3, in which the contribution from the excited state of Li atoms is important for their ionizations. Both the velocity sperad and the high electron density cause inaccuracy when a simple reconstruction procedure is employed as has been done in the case of thermal Li-beam.