Constraints on stellarator divertors from Hamiltonian mechanics

Abstract

The design of any large stellarator requires a plan for the removal of the particles and heat that are exhausted across the plasma edge. This is called the divertor problem, for the particle exhaust must be diverted into pumping chambers. Although the physics of diverted plasmas has many subtleties, the magnetic field configuration between the plasma edge and the surrounding chamber walls is the foundation upon which divertor design is based. The properties of this magnetic configuration has both practical constraints and mathematical constraints from magnetic field lines obeying a 1~1/2 degree of freedom Hamiltonian. Constraints from plasma physics will also be discussed; they need to be integrated with the constraints from from Hamiltonian mechanics in conceptual designs of stellarator divertors.