TERP, a non circular toroidal pinch

Turbulent heating of large volumes of plasma in a toroidal confinement system is investigated. The choice of an elongated torus for the confinement scheme is discussed and a description of the system's electrical parameters is given. Experiments involving relaxation to equilibrium and the excitation of MHD instabilities after the initial implosion are conducted for filling pressures of 1 mtorr of argon and 10 mtorr of hydrogen. Data concerning radial dependence of the toroidal and poloidal magnetic fields are compared with exact MHD equilibrium calculations, and good agreement is found. Furthermore, the system is found to be a good mechanism for confinement of beta plasma of high values. Additional magnetic field measurements, observed poloidal magnetic field vectors, and electron temperatures and densities at several locations are also given.