Potentials in thermal barriers with strong electron-cyclotron heating

Abstract

Expressions for the potential difference Φpb between the plug and barrier regions of a tandem-mirror thermal barrier cell are derived in the limit of strong electron-cyclotron heating. It is found that Φpb varies as the 2/3 power of the ratio of the density of electrostatically trapped plug electrons to the density of thermal electrons at the barrier. Electric-field requirements for validity of the solutions are presented.