Minimum dissipation states in tokamak plasmas

Abstract

The magnetic field and current density profiles of a steady-state tokamak are determined by assuming that the plasma relaxes to a state having the minimum rate of Ohmic dissipation. Since tokamaks do not operate with flux conservers, the constraints employed in the minimization are different from those used for RFPs or spheromaks. Energy and helicity conservation are imposed for given values of the applied electric and toroidal fields at the edge of the plasma.