Equilibrium of a toroidal plasma with finite resistivity and inertia

Abstract

A theoretical study of the equilibrium of a dilute plasma in toroidal geometry with rotational transform has been carried out, taking into account finite resistivity and finite inertia. If an additional nonvanishing density gradient drift of the plasma perpendicular to the magnetic field is assumed, the plasma drifts out of the toroid. The characteristic time of this process is found to be a factor of 2 r/R (where R and r are the major and minor radii of the toroid, respectively) smaller than the time which is associated with the mere diffusion from a toroid.