A helically symmetric stellarator (HSX)

Abstract

The Helically Symmetric Experiment (HSX) Is a quasi-helically symmetric (QHS) stellarator currently under construction at the Torsatron/Stellarator Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This device is unique in its magnetic design in that the magnetic field spectrum possesses only a single dominant (helical) component. This design avoids the large direct orbit losses associated with conventional stellarators. The restoration of an ignorable coordinate in the confining magnetic field makes this device analogous to an axisymmetric q=1/3 tokamak with respect to neoclassical confinement.