Natural Hot Ion Modes in a Rotating Plasma

Abstract

In steady state, the fuel cycle of a fusion plasma requires inward particle fluxes of fuel ions. These particle flows are also accompanied by heating. In the case of classical transport in a rotating cylindrical plasma, this heating can proceed through several distinct channels depending on the physical mechanisms involved. Some channels directly heat the fuel ions themselves, whereas others heat electrons. Which channel dominates depends, in general, on the details of the temperature, density, and rotation profiles of the plasma constituents. However, remarkably, under relatively few assumptions concerning these profiles, if the alpha particles, the byproducts of the fusion reaction, can be removed directly by other means, a hot-ion mode tends to emerge naturally.