Market: Scientists and students involved in thermonuclear fusion research. Thermonuclear fusion research using the confinement device tokamak represents one of the most prominent science projects in the second half of the 20th century. International Tokamak Community is now committing significant effort and funds to experiments with burning plasma, hot and dense enough to produce significant nuclear fusion reactions. The methods used to enhance tokamak performance have a profound and immediate effect on machine design. This book provides an up-to-date account of research in tokamak fusion and puts forward innovative ideas in confinement physics.

The importance of tokamaks and their role in fusion reactors has been known for some time, but it is only now that plasma physicists have reached a clear understanding of the major principles governing the behaviour of confined high-temperature plasma. This book gives a timely and comprehensive survey of these concepts as well as a simple presentation of the basic physics involved. The topics discussed include: the theory of plasma equilibrium and its main instabilities, semi-empirical approaches for investigating heat transport, major plasma instabilities restricting the region of a tokamak's operating modes, a variety of plasma confinement regimes and other phenomena such as MARFE, magnetic bubbles and fishbones. The author proposes a new mechanism for anomalous heat transport connected with the idea of microscale 'island' structure. The information is presented in a clear and systematic way which will make this book interesting and useful to a broad spectrum of scientists and engineers involved in fusion reactor research. '...an excellent book - authoritative, broad and bristling with insight' Professor R D Hazeltine, The University of Texas at Austin.

this part is supported by two useful appendices on some of the mathematical tools used and the physical units of plasma physics. State-space models, state observers, H control, and process simulations are some of the familiar techniques used by ? the authors to meet the demanding spatial control specifications for these processes; however, the research reported in the monograph is more that just simulation studies and proposals for possible future hypothetical controllers, for the authors have worked with some of the world’s leading existing tokamak facilities. Chapter 5, 8, and 9 respectively, give practical results of implementations of their control schemes on the FTU Tokamak (Italy), the TCV Tokamak (Switzerland), and the JET Tokamak (United Kingdom). Additionally, the authors present simulation results of their ideas for the control of the new tokamak proposed for the ITER project. In conclusion, being very aware that most control engineers will not be conversant with the complexities of tokamak nuclear fusion reactor control, the authors have taken special care to give a useful introduction to the background of nuclear fusion, the science of plasma physics and appropriate models in the first part of the monograph (Chapters 1 to 3). This introduction is followed by six chapters (4 to 9) of control studies. In Chapter 4, the generic control problem is established and then five case study chapters follow.

A plausible interpretation of the experimental evidence is that energy confinement in tokamaks is governed by two separate considerations: (1) the need for resistive MHD kink-stability, which limits the permissible range of current profiles - and therefore normally also the range of temperature profiles; and (2) the presence of strongly anomalous microscopic energy transport near the plasma edge, which calibrates the amplitude of the global temperature profile, thus determining the energy confinement time tau/sub E/. Correspondingly, there are two main paths towards the enhancement of tokamak confinement: (1) Configurational optimization, to increase the MHD-stable energy content of the plasma core, can evidently be pursued by varying the cross-sectional shape of the plasma and/or finding stable radial profiles with central q-values substantially below unity - but crossing from ''first'' to ''second'' stability within the peak-pressure region would have the greatest ultimate potential. (2) Suppression of edge turbulence, so as to improve the heat insulation in the outer plasma shell, can be pursued by various local stabilizing techniques, such as use of a poloidal divertor. The present confinement model and initial TFTR pellet-injection results suggest that the introduction of a super-high-density region within the plasma core should be particularly valuable for enhancing ntau/subE/. In D-T operation, a centrally peaked plasma pressure profile could possibly lend itself to alpha-particle-driven entry into the second-stability regime.

Simultaneous achievement of high energy confinement, [tau][sub E], and high plasma beta, [beta], leads to an economically attractive compact tokamak fusion reactor. High confinement enhancement, H=[tau][sub E]/[tau][sub E-ITER89P]= 4, and high normalized beta[beta][sub N]=[beta]/(I/aB)= 6%-m-T/MA, have been obtained in DIII-D experimental discharges. These improved confinement and/or improved stability limits are observed in several DIII-D high performance operational regimes: VH-mode, high[ell][sub i] H-mode, second stable core, and high beta poloidal. The authors have identified several important features of the improved performance in these discharges: details of the plasma shape, toroidal rotation or ExB flow profile, q profile and current density profile, and pressure profile. From the improved physics understanding of these enhanced performance regimes, they have developed operational scenarios which maintain the essential features of the improved confinement and which increase the stability limits using localized current profile control. The stability limit is increased by modifying the interior safety factor profile to be nonmonotonic with high central q, while maintaining the edge current density consistent with the improved transport regimes and the high edge bootstrap current. They have calculated high beta equilibria with[beta][sub N]= 6.5, stable to ideal n= 1 kinks and stable to ideal ballooning modes. The safety factor at the 95% flux surface is 6, the central q value is 3.9 and the minimum in q is 2.6. The current density profile is maintained by the natural profile of the bootstrap current, and a modest amount of electron cyclotron current drive.