Combination of quasi-isodynamic and piecewise omnigenous magnetic fields

Abstract

Due to their simultaneous optimization for radial and parallel neoclassical transport, quasi-isodynamic fields have been the main choice of stellarator magnetic configuration for most fusion reactor candidates in recent years. However, achieving a high degree of quasi-isodynamicity often comes at the cost of a strong shaping of the flux surfaces of the stellarator and complex coil geometries. In this work, the concepts of quasi-isodynamicity and piecewise omnigenity are combined to form QI-pwO fields. These fields are quasi-isodynamic in the low-field region of the magnetic surface, whereas they significantly depart from quasi-isodynamicity in the high-field region without sacrificing the neoclassical transport properties of quasi-isodynamic fields. This departure could make it easier to integrate the optimization of neoclassical transport with other physical and technological aspects of a stellarator reactor.