Methods for the Efficient Calculation of the (Mhd) Magnetohydrodynamic Stability Properties of Magnetically Confined Fusion Plasmas

Abstract

A magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model is applied to the problem of the stability of magnetically confined ther monuclear plasmas of interest in the pursuit of fusion power. Previous studies limited to two-dimensional con figurations are here generalized to three-dimensional toroidal plasmas. Using finite Fourier representations in the angle coordinates and finite hybrid elements in the radial direction, we solve the discretized Euler-Lagrange equations to determine the linear stability properties of the plasma.