Chapter 3. Structure of Magnetic Fields

CHAPTER 3.
STRUCTURE OF MAGNETIC FIELDS 1

Chapter 3
Structure of Magnetic
Fields
Many of the most interesting plasmas are permeated by or imbedded in magnetic
elds.
1
As shown in Fig. 3.1, the magnetic eld structures in which plasmas are
immersed are very diverse; they can also be quite complicated. Many properties
of magnetic elds in plasmas can be discussed without specifying a model for
the plasma. This chapter discusses the plasma-independent, general properties
(kinematics) of magnetic elds, the models commonly used to describe them
in plasma physics, and the coordinate systems based on them.
As indicated in Fig. 3.1, the generic structure of the magnetic eld can be
open (ac and f) or closed (d,e). In open congurations the ends of the magnetic
eld lines
2
may intersect material boundaries (e.g., the earth in b), or be left
unspecied (e.g., in a, on the eld lines in b that do not intersect the earth,
and in f). The magnetic eld structure in closed congurations (d,e) is toroidal
in character or topology. That is, its magnetic eld lines are topologically
equivalent (at least approximately) to lines on the surface of a torus or donut.
In most magnetized plasma situations the magnetic eld has a nonzero value
and a locally specied direction throughout the plasma. Also, the ow of mag-
netic eld lines penetrating a closed surface in the plasma often
3
forms a bundle
1
In plasma physics when we say magnetic eld we usually mean magnetic induction
eld B both because for many plasmas embedded in magnetic elds the plasma-induced
currents are small and hence the magnetic permeability is approximately that of free space
(i.e.,
0
), and because most plasma calculations, which use the microscopic Maxwells
equations, assume that the charged particles in the plasma produce currents in free space
rather than doing so in a dielectric medium.
2
While magnetic eld lines or lines of force do not in fact exist (at least in the sense
that they can be directly measured), they are very useful theoretical constructs for visualizing
magnetic elds.
3
However, closed magnetic ux surfaces do not exist in regions where the eld lines are
chaotic. Also, there are sometimes null points of the magnetic eld within the plasma for
example in the neutral sheet in the earths magnetosphere shown in Fig. 3.1b and along the
axis in the wiggler eld for the free electron laser shown in Fig. 3.1f. In addition, certain
DRAFT 22:52
September 22, 2003 c _J.D Callen, Fundamentals of Plasma Physics
CHAPTER 3. STRUCTURE OF MAGNETIC FIELDS 2
plasmasphere
neutralsheath
N
S
solar
wind
a)magneticmirror b)earthsmagnetosphere
c)screwpinch d)tokamak
e)stellarator f)freeelectronlaserwigglerfield
Figure 3.1: Examples of magnetic eld congurations in which plasmas are
imbedded.
of magnetic eld lines bounded by a magnetic ux surface within the magnetic
components of the magnetic eld may have null points as well for example the projection
of the magnetic eld in a screw pinch tokamak or stellarator in Figs. 3.1ce along the helical
pitch of a given magnetic eld line.
DRAFT 22:52
conguration. When nested magnetic ux surfaces exist, they usually provide
the most natural magnetic-eld-based coordinate system because most plasma
processes (charged particle motion, ows, transport) are much more rapid along
magnetic eld lines and within ux surfaces than across them.
The key magnetic eld variations are evident in the magnetic eld congura-
tions illustrated in Fig. 3.1. Namely, while magnetic eld lines point in a given
direction at any specied point, they can curve and twist, and their density can
vary in space. The general properties of curves along a vector eld such as the
magnetic eld are summarized in Section D.6.
The rst section of this chapter introduces simple models (quadratic and
sinusoidal magnetic well, and sheared slab magnetic eld) that include the four
most important local magnetic eld properties for plasma physics (namely, par-
allel and perpendicular gradients, curvature and shear). These simple models
will be used to explore the most fundamental eects of magnetic elds in many
areas of plasma physics throughout the remainder of this book. The second
section introduces the global magnetic eld representations and magnetic-eld-
based coordinate systems that are used in modeling plasma processes on (longer)
time scales where charged particles travel signicant distances along magnetic
elds. While the magnetic elds in which plasmas are imbedded are seldom
straight in Cartesian coordinates, one can develop coordinate systems in which
the magnetic eld lines are straight. Such coordinates greatly facilitate analyses
of magnetized plasmas. The third section develops the basic ideas of magnetic
island structures that can form in the sheared slab model when a resonant
perturbation is added. The next three sections discuss the simplest forms and
properties of magnetic eld coordinate systems for open (Section 3.4) and closed
(Sections 3.5, 3.6) magnetic eld systems. Finally, Section 3.7 gives the general
forms of all the local dierential propoerties of the vector magnetic eld gra-
dients, divergence, curvature, shear and torsion, and the general expansion of
the magnetic eld B in terms of them.
3.1 Local Properties
The SI (mks) units for the magnetic eld strength are webers/m
2
; thus, we can
think of the magnetic eld strength as representing the number of magnetic
eld lines (webers) per unit area (m
2
). Typically, the magnetic eld strength
varies as we move along a magnetic eld line. We can distinguish the eects
of variations in the magnetic eld strength from the eects of changes in its
direction by representing the magnetic eld as
B = B(x)
b, with

b B/B, (3.1)
in which B [B[
B B is the magnetic eld strength and
b is the local unit

vector along B, both at the point x. Since there are no magnetic monopoles in
nature, a magnetic eld must be divergence free. (Such a vector eld is called
a solenoidal eld.) Thus, using the representation of B given in (3.1) and the
DRAFT 22:52
vector identity (??), we must have
0 = B =

b B() +B
b. (3.2)
An equation governing the variation of the magnetic eld strength B along any
eld line can be determined by rearranging this equation to yield
B

b B = B
b, (3.3)
in which is the distance along a magnetic eld line. Hence, if the magnetic
eld strength (number of eld lines per unit area) is increasing (B/ > 0)
as one moves along a magnetic eld line, the local unit vectors along magnetic
eld lines must be converging (
b < 0); conversely, for a decreasing magnetic

eld strength (B/ < 0) the eld line unit vectors diverge (
b > 0).
We will often be interested in describing mathematically the parallel (|)
variation of the magnetic eld strength B. Near a minimum in the magnetic
eld strength along a magnetic eld line the eld strength B can be represented
by a quadratic approximation:
B
qw
= B
min
_
1 +

2
L
2
_
, quadratic well (qw) model, (3.4)
in which at B = B
min
where = 0 we have B/[
=0
= 0 and
2
B/
2
[
=0
> 0,
and by denition
L
2 B
2
B/
2
B=Bmin
. (3.5)
The characteristic scale length L
is the parallel distance over which the mag-

netic eld strength doubles in this lowest order approximation.
The magnetic eld strength often varies sinusoidally along a magnetic eld
line. A convenient model for this variation is
B
sin
() = B
min
+
_
B
max
B
min
2
__
1 cos
_
2
L
__
= B
min
+ B sin
2

L
, sinusoidal (sin) model. (3.6)

Here, B
max
is the maximum eld strength along a eld line which occurs at
= L
/2 in this model, and B B

max
B
min
is the amplitude of the
variation of B along a eld line within the periodicity length L
. The variation
of B
sin
near its minimum can be represented by the parabolic well model in
(3.4) with L
= (B
min
/B)
1/2
L
/. The ratio of the maximum to minimum

magnetic eld strength along a eld line is:
R
m

B
max
B
min
= 1 +
B
B
min
, magnetic mirror ratio. (3.7)
DRAFT 22:52
Mirror ratios range from values of order 2 to 10 or more for typical magnetic
mirrors (Fig. 3.1a) and the earths magnetosphere (Fig. 3.1b), to only slightly
greater than unity in toroidal devices (Fig. 3.1d,e) where the magnetic eld
strength varies only slightly as we move along the helical magnetic eld lines
from the outside to the inside of the torus. Note from (3.3) that at an extremum
(minimum or maximum) of the magnetic eld strength where B/ = 0 the
local unit vectors along eld lines are divergence-free they neither converge
nor diverge.
The magnetic eld can also vary both in magnitude and direction
in directions perpendicular (transverse) to the magnetic eld direction. The
sheared slab model, which we now discuss, approximates the local perpendicular
variations of typical magnetic eld structures that are most important in plasma
physics. In it a local Cartesian coordinate system is constructed at a given point.
The z axis is taken to be along the magnetic eld at the point where a magnetic
eld line passes through the origin of the coordinate system. The x axis is
taken to be in the radial (across ux surface) direction in which the most
signicant variations (in plasma parameters and in the density of magnetic eld
lines) occur in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic eld. The y axis is
taken to be in the azimuthal (or within ux surface) direction of least variation;
i.e., it is the ignorable coordinate, at least approximately. For example, for
a cylindrical magnetized plasma we anticipate mainly a radial variation in the
plasma parameters: for this case the sheared slab model x, y, z coordinates
would correspond to r r
0
, r
0
and z where r = r
0
is the cylindrical radius of
the magnetic eld line that passes through the origin of the sheared slab model.
The word slab in the title of the model indicates that only a thin radial (x)
slice of the magnetic conguration is being considered.
A local expansion of the magnetic eld that captures its most important
perpendicular variations is
B
ss
= B
0
__
1 +
x
L
B
_
e
z
+
z
R
C
e
x
+
x
L
S
e
y
_
, sheared slab (ss) model,
(3.8)
in which B
0
is the strength of the magnetic eld (or density of magnetic eld
lines) at the origin where x (x, y, z) = (0, 0, 0). Here, as indicated in Fig. 3.2,
the e
z
term represents the lowest order magnetic eld (the unity) and the per-
pendicular spatial gradient of its magnitude (1/L
B
), the e
x
term represents the
magnetic eld curvature (1/R
C
), and the e
y
term represents the dierential
twisting (shear, 1/L
S
) of the magnetic eld lines. These fundamental magnetic
eld properties will be explained and dened more precisely below and in the
following sections. [Torsion (uniform twisting see Section 3.7 below and D.6)
of magnetic eld lines such as in a uniform helical twist of the eld lines in the
screw pinch shown in Fig. 3.1c is not included in the sheared slab model because
the e
z
vector is taken to be in a locally xed rather than rotating direction.]
Since the model represents a Taylor series expansion of the magnetic eld about
a given point, it is only valid for small distances from the origin [x/L
B
[ << 1,
DRAFT 22:52
x
x
x
y
y
y
z
z
z
B
B
B
x
0
x
0
x
0
x()
y(,x)
d
d
R
c
L
s
B
0
Figure 3.2: Magnetic eld line characteristics included in the sheared slab mag-
netic eld model. Each sketch indicates the behavior of magnetic eld lines
when only the indicated coecient does not vanish.
[z/R
C
[ << 1, [x/L
S
[ << 1.
Calculating the magnitude of the magnetic eld using B [B[ =

B B,
we nd, to lowest order in the distance from the origin,
B
ss
[B
ss
[ = B
0
_
1 +
x
L
B
+O
_
x
2
L
2
B
,
x
2
L
2
S
,
z
2
R
2
C
__
B
0
_
1 +
x
L
B
_
. (3.9)
DRAFT 22:52
Thus, we identify
L
B

B
dB/dx
=
_
d ln B
dx
_
1
, perpendicular B scale length, (3.10)
in which the dierential is to be evaluated at the origin of our local Cartesian
coordinate system. The gradient scale length L
B
is the radial (x) distance
over which the magnitude of the magnetic eld would double in this linear
model. Hence, the 1/L
B
term in (3.8) represents the gradient in the magnetic
eld strength (density of magnetic eld lines) in the x direction (cf., Fig. 3.2c).
Henceforth, we will call this the perpendicular B or gradient B term.
The curvature of a magnetic eld line can be determined as follows. First, we
propose that a coordinate function x() represents the x variation of a magnetic
eld line as we move a distance along it. Then, the x component of the
curvature of the magnetic eld line is dened as the second derivative of x()
along the eld line:
curvature
d
2
x()
d
2
. (3.11)
For a magnetic eld line near the origin of the sheared slab model coordinate
system, by geometry we have
dx()
d

B
x
()
B

B
x
(z)
B
0
=
z
R
C
(3.12)
and hence
curvature
d
2
x
d
2

d
dz
_
B
x
(z)
B
0
_
=
1
R
C
(3.13)
in which B
x
e
x
Bis the x component of the vector magnetic eld. The radius
of curvature R
C
of the magnetic eld in the sheared slab model is the radius
of the circle that is tangent to and has the same curvature as the magnetic
eld line that passes through the origin. Integrating (3.12) a short distance
([z/R
C
[ << 1) along the eld line that passes through x = (x
0
, 0, 0) yields an
equation for the eld lines trajectory (cf., Fig. 3.2a) in the xz plane (to lowest
order d dz and z near the origin):
x = x
0
+z
2
/2R
C
, for y = constant, (3.14)
which again shows that 1/R
C
measures the curvature of the eld line.
The formal denition of the curvature vector for a vector magnetic eld
B B
b is [see (??) in Section D.6]

d
2
x
d
2
= (
b )
b =
R
C
R
2
C
, B eld curvature vector. (3.15)
DRAFT 22:52
Evaluating this expression for the sheared slab model magnetic eld in (3.8),
we obtain (near the origin where d dz and [x[ << L
B
)
=

z
_
e
z
+
(z/R
C
) e
x
+ (x/L
S
) e
y
1 +x/L
B
_

1
R
C
e
x

x
e
x
. (3.16)
Thus, R
C
is the inverse of the (normal, x direction) curvature of the magnetic
eld:
R
C
1/[
x
[, radius of curvature. (3.17)
Note that the absolute value is needed because vectorially the radius of curvature
vector R
C
points in the opposite direction from the curvature vector: =
R
C
/R
2
c
see Fig. ?? and Eq. (??) in Section D.6. Thus, for the sheared
slab model the vectorial radius of curvature is R
C
/[[
2
= R
C
e
x
, which
points from the point x = (R
C
, 0, 0) to the origin.
The magnetic eld line curvature vector can in general be written in a more
illustrative and useful form (for situations where currents ow in the plasma)
using

b B/B and the magnetostatic Amperes law B =
0
J:
(
b )
b =
b(
b) =
b(B/B)
=
b[(1/B)B]
b(B)/B =
b(
bln B) +
0
JB/B
2
= (1/B)[
b(
b )]B +
0
JB/B
2
, (3.18)
in which the vector identities (??), (??), and (??) have been used in successive
steps. Dening
b(
b ) =
b(
b), gradient perpendicular to B, (3.19)

to represent the components of the gradient operator in directions perpendicular
to the magnetic eld B, we can write the nal form in (3.18) in general as
=
ln B +

0
JB
B
2
, relation of curvature to
B and J. (3.20)
Near the origin of the sheared slab model, the e
x
component of this equation
yields
x

1
R
C
=
1
B
dB
dx
+

0
J
y
B
=
1
L
B
+

0
J
y
B
. (3.21)
When there is no current in the e
y
direction in the sheared slab model, we have
1/R
C
= 1/L
B
.
The shear in a magnetic eld can be understood as follows. A magnetic eld
line can rotate about the z axis because of torsion (twisting at a constant angular
rate) and shear (dierential twisting) see Section D.6. As noted above, the
sheared slab model does not include torsion. The shear in the magnetic eld
DRAFT 22:52
can be dened for our Cartesian coordinate system through the x derivative of
the y() coordinate variation along a magnetic eld line:
shear
d
dx
_
dy()
d
_
. (3.22)
For a magnetic eld line near the origin of the sheared slab model coordinate
system, by geometry we have
dy()
d

B
y
B
0
x
L
S
.
Thus, in the sheared slab model we have
shear
d
dx
_
dy
d
_

d
dx
_
B
y
(x)
B
0
_

1
L
S
. (3.23)
The shear length L
S
is the linear extrapolation distance in the x direction over
which the magnetic eld would dierentially twist through an angle of one radian
(i.e., to where B
y
= B
0
). Integrating (3.22) a short distance ([z/L
S
[ << 1) along
the eld line that passes through the point x = (x, y
0
, 0) yields an equation for
its trajectory (cf., Fig. 3.2b) in the yz plane:
y = y
0
+xz/L
S
, for x = constant, (3.24)
which shows that 1/L
S
measures the dierential twisting of the eld lines out
of the the xz plane and hence the shear in the magnetic eld lines.
The formal denition of the local shear in a vector eld B B
b is [see
(3.151) below and (??) in Section D.6]

(
b) (
b)
[
b[
2
=
(B) (B)
B
2
[[
2
, local shear
(3.25)
in which is the gradient of an assumed magnetic ux function and for
the last form we have used (3.1) and vector identities (??), (??) and (??). For
our sheared slab model x, x = e
x
and thus

b

be
x
=
e
y
e
z
(x/L
S
)/(1 +x/L
B
). Note that near the origin of the sheared slab model
geometry [
b[ 1 and [
b[ 1. Thus, evaluating the shear denition in

(3.25) for the sheared slab model we obtain
e
y
(
be
x
) 1/L
S
. (3.26)
By construction, the magnetic eld in the sheared slab model satises the
solenoidal or no magnetic monopole condition for a magnetic induction eld,
i.e., B
ss
= 0. However, its curl (rotation) does not vanish:
B
ss
= B
0
__
1
R
C
1
L
B
_
e
y
+
1
L
S
e
z
_
. (3.27)
DRAFT 22:52
In equilibrium situations where the magnetostatic Amperes law B =
0
J
applies, the full generality of the sheared slab model is appropriate only if elec-
trical currents ow in the plasma. For vacuum or very low plasma pressure
situations where no signicant currents ow in a magnetized plasma, we must
have 1/R
C
= 1/L
B
and 1/L
S
= 0. The curvature (1/R
C
) can deviate from the
inverse gradient length (1/L
B
) only if electrical current ows in the y direction,
as indicated by both (3.21) and (3.27). Since for strong magnetic elds it is
harder for charged particles and hence plasma currents to ow across magnetic
elds compared to along them, the y component of the current is typically small
and usually 1/R
C
1/L
B
. Magnetic shear (1/L
S
) is possible (in this torsion-
free model) only if current ows in the z (magnetic eld) direction. These points
will be made more quantitatively explicit in Sections 3.7, 5.3 and 20.1.
The parallel quadratic well, sinusoidal and sheared slab models represent the
most important spatial variations of the magnetic eld around a given point.
Any given physical situation can be modeled with these models by specifying
the characteristic scale lengths for the local properties of the magnetic eld:
parallel gradient B scale lengths L
and L
, perpendicular gradient B length L

B
,
curvature radius R
C
and shear length L
S
. While these models provide suitable
lowest order local descriptions for most magnetized plasma situations, they
are not the most general magnetic eld descriptions. In particular, they do not
allow for torsion or all the possible magnetic eld variations in the y and z
directions. The most general local expansion of a magnetic eld is discussed in
Section 3.7. Also, the local expansions do not in general provide global (i.e., valid
over all space) descriptions of the magnetic eld. The remaining sections of this
chapter develop more complete, but correspondingly more complex, magnetic
eld models.
3.2 Magnetic Field Representations and Coor-
dinate Systems
In the preceding section we developed local Taylor series expansions of a mag-
netic eld B about a given point. While these expansions are very useful for
understanding the local dierential properties (gradients, curvature, shear) of a
magnetic eld, in general they do not provide a global description of it. Charged
particles in plasmas move over long distances along magnetic eld lines for most
time scales of interest. Also, they typically move much more rapidly along mag-
netic eld lines than perpendicular to them; this causes the properties of a
magnetized plasma to be very anisotropic relative to the magnetic eld direc-
tion. In order to develop compact descriptions of magnetized plasmas it is most
convenient to use coordinate systems based on the global structure of the mag-
netic eld so-called magnetic eld line or magnetic ux coordinate systems.
Magnetic ux coordinates are curvilinear coordinates that are chosen so that
the equation of a magnetic eld line is a straight line in the chosen coordi-
nates. They are the most useful coordinates because they facilitate separation
DRAFT 22:52
of plasma eects along and perpendicular to magnetic eld lines. This section
discusses calculations of magnetic eld lines, and magnetic eld representations
and coordinate systems that describe the entire magnetic eld structure.
The global structure of the magnetic eld can in principle be obtained by
simply integrating the dierential equations of a curve that follows a magnetic
eld line. Dening x() to be the trajectory along a magnetic eld line, the
vector dx()/d that is locally tangent to the magnetic eld is given by
dx()
d
along B
=
B
B
=

b, eld line equation. (3.28)
This is the fundamental denition of a magnetic eld line that we will use
throughout the remainder of this book. Taking the e
x
, e
y
, and e
z
projections
of this fundamental eld line denition, we obtain
dx
B
x
=
dy
B
y
=
dz
B
z
=
d
B
. (3.29)
Note that these eld line dierential equations can also be obtained from the
condition that a vector dierential length d along the magnetic eld B must
be parallel to it: dB = 0.
For simple magnetic eld systems we can directly integrate the three inde-
pendent equations in (3.29) to obtain a mathematical description of the mag-
netic eld. For example, we performed such integrations for the sheared slab
model in the special cases of no shear and little perpendicular gradient B or
curvature see (3.14) and (3.24). For such systems the constants of integra-
tion provide labels for the magnetic eld lines x
0
and y
0
for the two special
sheared slab model cases. However, it is often impractical or impossible to
obtain a global magnetic eld description by directly integrating the equations
that describe a magnetic eld line trajectory. For example, integrating the three
equations for the complete sheared slab model in (3.8) results in a set of three
interrelated, implicit equations for which a closed solution is not possible, except
in the vicinity of the origin (see Problem 3.7).
For a magnetic eld in free space (i.e., in a vacuum), or in the limit where
the currents owing in the plasma are negligible, the equilibrium Amperes law
becomes simply B = 0. This equation can be satised by writing the
magnetic eld in terms of a scalar potential
M
:
B =
M
, vacuum magnetic eld representation. (3.30)
For this case the solenoidal (no magnetic monopoles) condition B = 0 be-
comes the Laplace equation
M
= 0. (3.31)
Methods for solving the Laplace equation in various geometries are available in
many books on electromagnetic theory and other areas of physics. For magne-
tized plasmas such solutions are useful mainly in vacuum regions outside the
DRAFT 22:52
plasma, or as the lowest order magnetic eld structure for cases where currents
in the plasma do not signicantly change the magnetic eld. However, for many
important magnetized plasma situations the electrical currents owing in the
plasma are signicant, and in fact very important, in determining the structure
and even topology of the magnetic eld. Thus, solutions of (3.31) for vacuum
magnetic elds are not always useful for magnetized plasmas and we must look
elsewhere for broadly applicable descriptions.
Like any vector eld subject to the solenoidal condition ( B = 0), the
magnetic induction eld B can be written in terms of a vector potential A:
B = A. (3.32)
For example, an appropriate vector potential for the sheared slab model is
A
ss
= B
0
_
x +
x
2
2L
B
z
2
2R
C
_
e
y
B
0
x
2
2L
S
e
z
, (3.33)
as can be veried by substituting it into (3.32) and comparing the result to
(3.8).
Alternatively (see Section D.5), the magnetic eld can be written as
B = , Clebsch representation, (3.34)
in which (x) and (x) are scalar stream functions (i.e., functions that are
constant along the vector eld B) since B = B = 0. Note that the
representations of B in (3.32) and (3.34) are equivalent if we dene
A = , or A = , (3.35)
since using vector identities (??), (??), and (??), we have =
and = =. Note also that the vector potential A
and the stream functions , are somewhat arbitrary since they yield the same
magnetic induction eld B under the gauge transformations A A+(x),
and + f
1
() or + f
2
() (but not both f
1
, f
2
simultaneously) in
which , f
1
, and f
2
are arbitrary scalar functions of the variables indicated.
While the stream functions , must be continuous, they can be multivalued
(e.g., they can involve angular or cyclic variables). For examples of and
stream functions, see Problem 3.7, which develops them for the sheared slab
model, and the following sections.
The Clebsch representation of the magnetic eld can be used as a basis for
a coordinate system that represents the global magnetic eld structure the
Clebsch magnetic coordinate system. Along magnetic eld lines, which follow
the curve given by (3.28), we have d/d = (dx/d) = (B)/B = 0
and similarly d/d = 0. Thus, magnetic eld lines lie within (x) = constant
and (x) = constant surfaces. Further, since points in the direction of
(and is equal to) B, the intersection of the , surfaces denes a given magnetic
eld line. Hence, and are labels for a particular magnetic eld line.
DRAFT 22:52
Because the , stream functions label magnetic eld lines in the plane
perpendicular to B, they can provide curvilinear coordinates perpendicular to
the magnetic eld. There is no obvious choice for the coordinate along the
magnetic eld. From physical considerations it is convenient to choose the
length (measured from some suitable surface) along eld lines. [However,
other coordinates along the magnetic eld are often used, e.g., d
M
= Bd
for the vacuum magnetic eld in (3.30)]. Unfortunately, the , , coordinates
are in general not orthogonal and not available in closed form solutions. These
complications plus their possible multivaluedness make them an awkward choice
as the basis for a magnetic-eld-based coordinate system. However, because
of their simplicity and generality they are often useful for proofs concerning
equilibrium, stability and transport properties of magnetized plasmas.
Magnetic ux surfaces usually provide a better basis for developing magnetic-
eld-based coordinate systems for plasma physics. The magnetic ux through
a surface S encompassed by a closed curve C is in general dened by
=
__
S
dS B =
__
S
dS A =
_
C
d A, magnetic ux, (3.36)
in which we have used Stokes theorem (??) in the last step. In this book we
will use a capital letter to indicate the total magnetic ux in its normal units
(webers), and a small Greek letter to indicate a magnetic ux component that
has been normalized in some way (e.g., often = /2). Since magnetic ux
surfaces encompass the bundle of magnetic eld lines within the surface S, they
must satisfy
B = 0, magnetic ux surface condition. (3.37)
Thus, , which by denition [see (??)] is normal to the ux surface (x), is
orthogonal to the magnetic eld B and hence to its eld lines. That is, magnetic
eld lines lie within (x) = constant surfaces.
For a Clebsch coordinate system with A = and a closed contour C
,
the magnetic ux becomes
=
__
S
dS() B =
_
C
d() =
_
C
d . (3.38)
Here, the subscript is placed on and a argument is given for dS to indicate
that this magnetic ux will represent (see below) a magnetic eld component
orthogonal to both the and coordinates. (For example, dS .)
Because the Clebsch representation is general, we will use this form of the mag-
netic ux both as a description of the complete magnetic eld, and for individual
magnetic eld components. To obtain the functional dependence of a magnetic
ux function it is often simplest to calulate it on a surface where it can be
evaluated easily and then extend it to other spatial positions by mapping the
magnetic eld lines it encompasses to the new positions.
DRAFT 22:52
Magnetic ux surfaces can be constructed easily for magnetic congurations
or magnetic eld components in which there is symmetry (i.e., no dependence
on a coordinate) in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic eld. Then,
we choose to be that symmetry coordinate, and the magnetic ux and the
corresponding vector potential become
=
_
d, A
= =

_
d
, for symmetry in . (3.39)
When there is symmetry in the direction, the magnetic eld component pro-
duced by the component of the vector potential in the direction can be
represented in terms of the corresponding magnetic ux by
B
= A
=
_

_
d
_
, for symmetry in . (3.40)
This component of the magnetic eld is labeled with a vector cross product
subscript () because it is orthogonal to both the symmetry coordinate and the
ux coordinate directions: B
= 0, and B
= 0. Note that
is
clearly a magnetic ux function since it satises (3.37). As a simple example of
how to directly use these formulas for a single component magnetic eld, Section
3.4 develops the magnetic ux (and Clebsch) coordinates for an axisymmetric
magnetic mirror.
These formulas can be used to develop magnetic ux coordinates for the
sheared slab model as follows. In the absence of magnetic shear (i.e., for 1/L
S

0), the sheared slab model is symmetric in the y direction. For this case, the
dominant or main magnetic eld component in the sheared slab model can
be calculated by taking = y,
_
d = y
0
. Then, we use the rectangular
surface in the z = 0 plane specied by (see Fig. 3.3a) 0 x x
0
and 0
y y
0
for calculating the magnetic ux in the z direction to yield
z
[
z=0
=
_
x0
0
dx
_
y0
0
dy B
z
= (x
0
+x
2
0
/2L
B
)y
0
B
0
at z = 0. This magnetic ux is extended
to other (small) z values using the eld line label x
0
= x z
2
/2R
C
from (3.14)
to yield:
z

_
x +
x
2
2L
B
z
2
2R
C
_
y
0
B
0
xy
0
B
0
, A
y

y
y
0
y,
B
main
= A
y
=
_
z
y
0
_
e
y
B
0
__
1 +
x
L
B
_
e
z
+
z
R
C
e
x
_
. (3.41)
To determine a similar magnetic ux form for the auxiliary magnetic shear
component in the sheared slab model, we consider the case where the perpen-
dicular gradient in B and curvature are absent (i.e., 1/L
B
= 0 and 1/R
C
= 0),
and the eld line label simplies to x
0
= x. Then, there is symmetry in the
z direction, and we take = z,
_
d = z
0
. Using the rectangular surface in
the y = 0 plane specied by (see Fig. 3.3b) 0 x x
0
and 0 z z
0
, we
obtain
y
[
y=0
=
_
x0
0
dx
_
z0
0
dz B
y
= (x
2
0
/2L
S
)z
0
B
0
. (The
y
magnetic ux
DRAFT 22:52
x
x
y
y
z
z
B
y
(x)
B
x
0
y
0
z
0
x
0
a)mainmagneticfluxy
m
b)auxiliarymagneticfluxy
*
Figure 3.3: Geometry of the surfaces through which the (a) main (
z
) and (b)
auxiliary (
y
) magnetic uxes are calculated for the sheared slab magnetic eld
model.
is negative because dS d
x
d
z
= e
x
dxe
z
dz = e
y
dxdz.) Using x
0
= x,
this yields
y
=
x
2
2L
S
z
0
B
0
, A
z

y
z
0
z,
B
aux
= A
z
=
_
y
z
0
_
e
z
= B
0
x
L
S
e
y
. (3.42)
The total magnetic eld in the sheared slab model can be represented in
terms of its y and z magnetic ux components by adding these two results:
B
ss
= B
main
+B
aux
= (
z
/y
0
)y +(
y
/z
0
)z. (3.43)
Neglecting terms of order x
2
and z
2
, the two components in (3.43) can be
combined into a single form B B
0
(x+x
2
/2L
B
z
2
/2R
C
)(yxz/L
S
) =
z
y
0
using (3.24), which is in the Clebsch form given in (3.34). However,
in general the two magnetic ux forms cannot be combined into a single Clebsch
form. For the sheared slab model the natural curvilinear coordinates near the
origin that can be deduced from this magnetic ux model of the magnetic eld
are
z
, y
0
y xz/L
S
and z. Note that despite the presence of magnetic
shear, curvature and a perpendicular gradient of B, magnetic eld lines are, as
desired, straight to rst order in this magnetic ux coordinate system: d
z
/d =
0, dy
0
/d = 0, and d dz along eld lines.
Many physically relevant situations are more complicated, either because
they are fully three-dimensional and have no symmetry direction (e.g., the outer
parts of the earths magnetosphere in Fig. 3.1b and the stellarator in Fig. 3.1e),
or because there is a magnetic eld component in the symmetry direction(s)
DRAFT 22:52
(e.g., the screw pinch in Fig. 3.1e and the tokamak in Fig. 3.1d). When there
is more than one magnetic eld component and one of the components is in a
symmetry direction, the magnetic induction eld B can be written in terms of
the magnetic ux components associated with a main (parallel to a symmetry
or periodicity direction) and an auxiliary (perpendicular to the dominant sym-
metry direction, or due to shear, torsion) component of the magnetic eld. Each
magnetic eld component can be written in terms of the relevant magnetic ux
in a Clebsch form using (3.40).
In general, representations of B elds can always be constructed with two
magnetic ux functions. They are quite useful in plasma physics. A single or
total Clebsch form can be developed from them whenever the two ux functions
are single valued functions of each other, which happens when they represent
congurations with closed, nested toroidal magnetic ux surfaces. Examples of
such systems include axisymmetric toroidal congurations (see Section 3.6) and
some regions of stellarators.
For toroidal magnetic congurations with helical magnetic eld lines there
are two natural cyclic coordinates: the toroidal (long way around the torus) and
poloidal (short way) angles and . For the moment these will be arbitrarily-
dened angles; they are only required to span their respective spaces. Then, in
analogy with (3.41) and (3.42), it can be shown in general that the magnetic
eld can be written in the form of toroidal (tor) and poloidal (pol) magnetic
eld and ux components:
B = B
tor
+B
pol
= (
tor
/2) +(
pol
/2). (3.44)
The natural sign of the poloidal magnetic ux
pol
would be negative for this
geometry because of the choice of , , as a right-handed set of coordinates;
however, by convention its sign is changed in this denition. The magnetic axis
(origin) for the poloidal angle coordinate is dened to be the line on which
B
pol
(
pol
/2) vanishes.
In regions where a set of nested toroidal magnetic ux surfaces exist, the
poloidal ux function is a single-valued (monotonic) function of the toroidal
ux function and hence can be written in terms of it:
pol
=
pol
(
tor
). Then,
the poloidal and toroidal angles can be modied (
f
and
f
), so that
magnetic eld lines are straight in them (hence, the f subscript indicating
proper ux surface coordinates). (See Section 3.6 for the development of such
straight-eld-line coordinates for axisymmetric toroidal congurations.) Thus,
for toroidal congurations with nested ux surfaces, the magnetic eld in (3.44)
can be written compactly in the Clebsch form
B =
_
tor
2
_
f

_

2
_
f
_
, toroidal ux surfaces B eld,
(3.45)
DRAFT 22:52
where we have dened
(
tor
) 2
_
d
pol
d
tor
_
, rotational transform angle (degrees), (3.46)
which is the slope (d
f
/d
f
) of the magnetic eld lines in the
f
f
plane. Here,
is the small Greek letter iota; it is divided by 2 in many formulas to represent
the angle of eld line rotation (per toroidal transit) in radians. For this model
magnetic eld we identify the Clebsch coordinates as =
tor
/2 and =
f
(/2)
f
. Along magnetic eld lines we have d = d
tor
/2 = 0 and d = 0
or d
f
= (/2) d
f
=
f
= (/2)
f
+ constant. Thus, magnetic eld lines are
straight in the
tor
=constant,
f

f
plane. For such toroidal congurations the
natural magnetic eld curvilinear coordinates are those based on the magnetic
ux coordinates
tor
,
f
, and
f
, which unfortunately are not usually orthogonal.
Nonetheless, since /2 is typically not a rational number (ratio of integers,
see Section 3.6), the magnetic ux coordinates usually provide a more useful
description than the Clebsch coordinates because of the multivaluedness of
the coordinate in
f
and
f
and because (or some other coordinate along eld
lines) is not one of the natural coordinates of the magnetic eld description.
3.3 Magnetic Islands
This section will explain how an error magnetic eld can create a magnetic island
in a sheared magnetic eld model it is yet to be written and inserted. The
main point of this section will be to show that when a resonant magnetic eld
perturbation of the type

B
x
=
B
x
sin ky is added to the sheared slab model
it produces a magnetic island of width w = 4 (L
S

B
x
/kB
0
)
1/2
and to elucidate
various properties of eld lines in and around the magnetic island structure.
3.4 Open Magnetic Congurations*
There are many types of open magnetic congurations: a cylindrical column
of magnetized plasma, magnetic mirrors (Fig. 3.1a), the earths magnetosphere
(Fig. 3.1b), the interplanetary magnetic eld, solar ares, cusps (produced by
pairs of mirror coils in which the coil currents ow in opposite directions),
and so-called divertor regions on open eld lines that are outside the closed
ux surfaces in toroidal congurations. The simplest and conceptually most
important open congurations are of the axisymmetric magnetic mirror type,
as shown in Fig. 3.4.
We consider rst an axisymmetric magnetic mirror composed of two identical
current-carrying solenoidal coils separated by a distance L, as shown in Fig. 3.4a.
This simple mirror is an important paradigm for discussing many eects of
geometry on magnetized plasmas. Since there is symmetry in the azimuthal ()
DRAFT 22:52
0

1

2
-
2
-
1
0=0
2
L
M
z
S
N
r
0
2
r
B
|B|
-60 60 0
|B|
B
max
B
min
2B
min
-L
/2 -L
/2 0
B
R
Z
Figure 3.4: Two fundamental types of axisymmetric open magnetic eld cong-
urations: a) (on left) axisymmetric or simple magnetic mirror; and b) (on right)
a dipole magnetic eld such as that due to the earths magnetic dipole.
direction and no component of B in this direction, we can construct a Clebsch-
type magnetic ux coordinate system using (3.39) and (3.40):
B =
_
m
2
_
, axisymmetric mirror (m) magnetic eld. (3.47)
Here, we have taken = and used (3.39) to identify the magnetic ux for
an axisymmetric magnetic mirror as
m
=
_
d = 2. A vector potential
that produces this magnetic eld is A = (
m
/2) = (
m
/2R) e
. This
representation can also be used to describe the bumpy cylinder magnetic eld
produced by a set of solenoidal coils conning a cylindrical column of magnetized
plasma (see Problems 3.1 and 3.12).
The magnetic eld structure in an axisymmetric magnetic mirror is one of
the simplest nontrivial magnetic congurations. In particular, as can be seen
from Fig. 3.4a, because of the axisymmetry, it has no gradient of B or curvature
in the azimuthal () direction, Also, it has no shear or torsion. However, there
are axial (and parallel) and radial gradients of B in an axisymmetric mirror.
Further, the magnetic eld lines have normal (see Section D.6) curvature (
N

m
,= 0). When the sheared slab model in (3.8) is used to describe the
DRAFT 22:52
local magnetic eld in a simple mirror, we make the following associations:
(x, y, z) (
m
, , ), 1/R
C
=
x

m
/[
m
[, 1/L
B
= (1/B)(dB/dx)
[
m
[(1/B)(B/
m
), 1/L
S
0.
In a simple mirror the magnetic eld strength varies signicantly along mag-
netic eld lines. It is smallest at the midplane (Z = 0) between the mirrors and
maximum in the mirror throats (Z = L/2) of the two coils. Since the vari-
ation of [B[ along magnetic eld lines is approximately sinusoidal between the
mirror coils, it is commonly represented by the sinusoidal model in (3.6). Near
the midplane at = Z = 0, to lowest order the variation of the magnetic eld
strength is quadratic in and can be represented by the quadratic well model
(3.4). The mirror ratio R
m
B
max
/B
min
increases with minor radius R from
its minimum on the axis of symmetry (R = 0). When the mirror coils are
separated by approximately their diameters, its on-axis value is about 23.
The magnetic ux coordinate system
m
, , for a simple mirror can be
related to a cylindrical coordinate system R, , Z constructed about the sym-
metry axis of the magnetic mirror. For simplicity we dene = 0, Z = 0 at the
midplane between the two mirror coils. We calculate the relation between the
distance along a eld line and the axial cylindrical coordinate Z as follows.
First, we take the dot product of the eld line equation (3.28) with e
Z
Z
to obtain
dZ
d
=
B
Z
B
. (3.48)
Since there is no azimuthal magnetic eld component (B
B = 0) and
near the axis of symmetry (R = 0) we can see from Fig. 3.4a that B
R
<< B
Z
,
we have
B =
_
B
2
Z
+B
2
R
B
Z
[1 + (1/2)(B
2
R
/B
2
Z
) + ]. (3.49)
Now, the cylindrical coordinate form of B = 0 is
1
R
R
(RB
R
) +
B
Z
Z
= 0.
Integrating this equation over a small distance R at constant Z away from R = 0
where B
R
= 0 (by axisymmetry) assuming that, as will be demonstrated below,
B
Z
depends only weakly on R, yields
B
R

R
2
B
Z
Z

R
2
B

R
L
2
B
min
. (3.50)
Here, we have anticipated from (3.49) that B B
Z
and Z near R =
0, Z = 0, and in the last form we have used the quadratic well approximation
of (3.4). The radial magnetic eld component B
R
is nonzero and negative to
provide the needed (for B = 0) convergence (dR/d B
R
< 0) of the eld
lines as the magnetic eld strength increases away from the mirror midplane
DRAFT 22:52
(B/ > 0) see discussion after (3.3). Using (3.50) in (3.48), the length
along a magnetic eld line is given for small R (<< L
) and (<< L
) by
d
dZ
= 1 +
1
2
B
2
R
B
2
Z
+ = = Z[1 +R
2
Z
2
/6L
4
+ ],
= e
Z
(1 +R
2
Z
2
/2L
4
+ ) +e
R
(RZ
3
/3L
4
+ ). (3.51)
Note that for R ,= 0 the distance along eld lines is longer than the axial
distance Z, and that this lengthening eect increases with the cylindrical radius
R. Note also that for this simple mirror does not point in the same direction
as B since the coecient of e
R
in is positive while B
R
< 0.
The total magnetic ux
m
within a cylindrical radius R can be determined
approximately at the Z = 0 plane by neglecting the slight variation of B with
R, and then extended along eld lines using R R() and B(Z = 0) B():
m

__
Z=0
dS B =
_
2
0
d
_
R
0
R
dR
B R
2
B(Z = 0) = R
2
()B().
(3.52)
The gradient of
m
, which denes one of the directions in the magnetic ux
coordinate system, is
(
m
/2) BRR + (R
2
/2)(B/Z)Z BR[ e
R
+ (RZ/L
2
) e
Z
].
Using this result together with = e
/R in (3.47) yields the desired magnetic

eld direction and magnitude variation along eld lines for an axisymmetric
mirror near R = 0, Z = 0.
The magnetic ux within a given bundle of magnetic eld lines is conserved
(since B
m
= 0) as we move along the eld lines and the magnetic eld
strength varies. Thus, the radius R() of a given magnetic ux surface (or eld
line) can be determined from (3.52),
R()

m
B()
= R(0)
B
min
B()
, radius of ux surface. (3.53)
Hence, the radius of a ux surface varies inversely with the square root of the
eld strength ux surfaces get smaller in radius R as we move toward the
mirror throats.
The normal (
m
or radial direction) curvature of the magnetic eld lines
can be obtained from the second derivative of R() along a eld line:
R

d
2
R()/d
2
. Near the axis of symmetry and midplane of a simple mirror it is
given by
R
R/L
2
, for R, [Z[ << L
. (3.54)
[This result can also be obtained from the denition
R
d(B
R
/B)/d from
(3.15) see Problem 3.11]. Thus, as is obvious physically from the axisymmet-
ric magnetic mirror geometry, the radius of curvature R
C
1/[
R
[ is innite on
the symmetry axis (R = 0), but is nite for R ,= 0 and decreases as R increases.
DRAFT 22:52
The variation of [B[ in the radial (R) direction can be estimated from the
magnetic eld curvature as follows. First, we recall that for small R, Z the
magnetic eld can be expanded as indicated in (3.49). Next, we assume that
the plasma electrical current in the direction is small and can be neglected.
Then, the component of the equilibrium (/t 0) Amperes law becomes
0 = e
B =
B
R
Z

B
Z
R
B
Z
(
R
ln B
Z
R
).
Thus, as we could also have deduced from (3.18), we have
ln B
Z
R

R

R
L
2
= B
Z
B
min
_
1 +
Z
2
L
2
R
2
2L
2
_
. (3.55)
Using this result in the expression for [B[ in (3.49), we nd
[B[ B
min
__
1 +

2
L
2
__
1
R
2
2L
2
_
+
_
. (3.56)
Hence, as can be discerned by looking at the density of the eld lines sketched
in Fig. 3.4a, there is a saddle point in the magnetic eld strength at the center
(R = 0, Z = = 0) of the simple mirror [B[ increases along eld lines
(
2
B/
2
> 0 near [Z[ = 0), but decreases radially (B/R < 0, for R ,=
0). Within the axisymmetric model of the magnetic mirror eld, [B[ always
decreases with radius R; hence the region near R = 0, Z = 0 is a magnetic hill
radially, but a magnetic well axially. It will turn out (see Chapter 21) that for
macroscopic plasma stability we need to place the plasma in a global magnetic
well (B/R > 0,
2
B/Z
2
> 0). A minimum-B or magnetic well mirror
conguration can be created by adding nonaxisymmetric, multipolar magnetic
elds that are produced by currents in alternating directions in a set of axial
wires (Ioe bars) outside the mirror coils (see Section 21.1).
Next, we consider the axisymmetric magnetic eld generated by the earths
magnetic dipole, as indicated in Fig. 3.4b. Since the electrical currents in the
plasma near the earth are too weak to signicantly aect the magnetic eld,
we need only calculate the vacuum eld induced by the earths dipole magnetic
moment
E
M
d
e
z
. The magnetic potential
d
induced by a point magnetic
dipole is given by (
0
/4 1 for mks cgs units)
d
=
_
0
4
_

E
x
[x[
3
, magnetic potential for dipole eld. (3.57)
Using the spherical coordinate system shown in Fig. 3.4b, outside the earth
(r > R
E
) the magnetic potential becomes
d
=
_
0
4
_
M
d
e
z
x
[x[
3
=
_
0
4
_
M
d
sin
r
2
(3.58)
DRAFT 22:52
in which [x[ = r is the distance from the center of the earth. Here, we have used
e
z
x = z = r cos = r sin in which = /2 is the angle characterizing
the latitude from the equatorial plane ( = /2, = 0).
Evaluating the components of B =
d
in r, , spherical coordinates,
we obtain
B
r
=
_
0
4
_
2 M
d
sin
r
3
, B
=
_
0
4
_
M
d
cos
r
3
, B
= 0, diplole eld.
(3.59)
The B
component vanishes because of the axisymmetry about the earths

magnetic axis. The total magnetic eld strength is thus given by
B =
_
B
2
r
+B
2
=
_
0
4
_
M
d
(1 + 3 sin
2
)
1/2
r
3
, (3.60)
which shows that the magnetic eld strength increases with latitude and
decreases with radial distance (as 1/r
3
).
The magnetic ux
d
for a dipole (subscript d) magnetic eld can be calcu-
lated from the magnetic eld penetrating downward through a disk in the z =
constant plane that extends radially outward from r to innity using dS(z)
e
z
, and B (e
z
) = B
cos :
d
=
__
dS(z) B =
_

r
r
dr
_
2
0
d cos B
=
_
0
4
_
2M
d
cos
2
r
.
(3.61)
The direction of dS(z) and sign of
d
were chosen so that
d
is in the e
r
(radially outward) direction at = 0. The variation of the radius of a eld
line as changes can be obtained from the constancy of the magnetic ux
d
along eld lines: r() = r
0
cos
2
in which r
0
is the radius of the eld line in
the equatorial plane. Using this eld line result in (3.60), we nd that along a
magnetic eld line [B[ (1 + 3 sin
2
)
1/2
/ cos
6
, which increases rapidly away
from the equator ( = 0) see Fig. 3.4b. Near the equatorial plane the
magnetic eld strength can be modeled by the quadratic well model of (3.4)
with r
0
and L
= (
2/3)r
0
(see Problem 3.14). Since B/ > 0 for
> 0, magnetic eld unit vectors converge (B
r
< 0,
b < 0) as we move
along eld lines vertically, above and away from the equatorial plane, toward
the earths polar regions where the magnetic eld strength is largest.
For a Clebsch-type magnetic ux representation of the dipole magnetic eld
we take and /2, and thus have
B =
_
d
2
_
, dipole magnetic eld. (3.62)
That this form reproduces the eld components in (3.59) can be shown using
= e
/(r cos ), e
r
e
= e
, e
= e
r
(because = /2 ). Note
DRAFT 22:52
also that the dipole magnetic eld can be represented by the vector potential
A = (
d
/2) = (
d
/2r) e
.
Like the simple mirror, the earths dipole magnetic eld has no shear or
torsion. However, there is normal (radial) curvature and, since this is a nearly
vacuum eld, a concomitant radial gradient of [B[. Using (3.60) and J 0 in
(3.20), we nd for all
r
=

r
ln B =
3
r
, L
B
= R
C
=
r
3
, curvature of vacuum dipole eld.
(3.63)
Note that for the dipole eld the radius of curvature is independent of latitude
and equal to its obvious value of 3/r in the equatorial plane ( = 0). When
the sheared slab model in (3.8) is used to describe the local magnetic eld in
the earths dipole eld, we make the following associations: (x, y, z) (, , ),
1/L
B

r
,
x

r
, and 1/L
S
= 0.
Since mathematical descriptions of nonaxisymmetric open magnetic con-
gurations usually depend on the specics of the particular case, we will not
develop any in detail. While the characteristics of particular open magnetic
congurations can be quite important for specic eects, the lowest order or
most fundamental properties of open congurations are usually dominated by
the open rather than closed nature of the eld lines, the magnetic mirrors along
B, and the B and curvature of the eld lines. These latter properties are all
included in the axisymmetric models developed above. Thus, the axisymmetric
simple mirror or dipole eld models provide appropriate lowest order magnetic
eld models for all open congurations.
3.5 Screw Pinch Model*
There are a number of types of axisymmetric toroidal magnetic eld congura-
tions used for plasma connement: tokamaks (Fig. 3.1d), spherical tokamaks,
spheromaks and reversed eld pinches devices whose interrelationships are
discussed at the end of this and the next section. The paradigm for the ax-
isymmetric toroidal class of congurations is the tokamak, both because it is
the simplest axisymmetric toroidal magnetic conguration with two magnetic
eld components, and because so many experimental tokamaks have been built
and operated worldwide in the pursuit of the magnetic connement approach
to controlled fusion. In turn, the tokamak magnetic geometry is often approx-
imated by a periodic cylinder (see Fig. 3.1c), which is called the screw pinch
model and the focus of this section. In this section and the following one we
develop the screw pinch and axisymmetric toroidal models in general, and then
indicate the lowest order tokamak forms in the usual large aspect ratio (thin
donut) expansion after approximate equalities (). The use and forms of these
general magnetic eld structures for other axisymmetric toroidal congurations
are discussed at the end of the sections: reversed eld pinches at the end of this
section, and spherical tokamaks and spheromaks at the end of the next section.
DRAFT 22:52
Figure 3.5: Screw pinch model of tokamak magnetic eld geometry. The axial
periodicity length 2R
0
represents the periodicity of the tokamak in the toroidal
direction.
The key parameter that describes the degree of toroidicity in all toroidal
magnetic congurations is the reciprocal of the aspect ratio. The aspect ratio A
is dened as the ratio of the major (R
0
) to minor (r) radius of a given magnetic
ux surface in the torus. The degree of toroidicity in toroidal congurations is
indicated by the parameter

r
R
0
=
1
A
, inverse aspect ratio. (3.64)
This is a small number for magnetic ux surfaces inside most standard toka-
maks whose aspect ratios at the plasma edge typically range from 2.5 to 5. Thus,
it will be used as an expansion parameter in the analysis of tokamak magnetic
eld systems.
There are two classes of intrinsically toroidal eects in tokamaks that need
to be taken into account for small but nite . First, there are the eects due
to the toroidal curvature: the toroidal curvature of the magnetic eld lines and
the dierences in the magnetic eld strength on the inner (small R) and outer
(large R) sides of the torus [see Eq. (3.110) in the next section]. Second, and
most importantly, there is the double periodicity of the system in the toroidal
(long way around the torus) and poloidal (short way) angle variables and .
In the screw pinch (periodic cylinder) model of the tokamak the double
periodicity is taken into account, but the toroidal curvature eects are neglected.
This model uses an r, , z cylindical geometry, as indicated in Fig. 3.5. In the
screw pinch model, r reresents the minor radius (or ux surface label) and
DRAFT 22:52
represents the poloidal angle in the tokamak. The tokamaks periodicity in the
toroidal angle is modeled by requiring periodicity in the axial coordinate z
over the toroidal length of the torus, 2R
0
. Thus, the axial distance z in the
screw pinch is associated with the tokamak toroidal angle through
z = R
0
. (3.65)
The magnetic eld in a tokamak has two components. The main, toroidal
(, z) magnetic eld B
tor
is produced by electrical currents owing poloidally
mainly in coils wrapped poloidally around the torus, but also within the plasma.
The smaller (for << 1) poloidal () magnetic eld B
pol
is produced by the
toroidal component of current owing in the plasma. In the screw pinch model
both components can depend on the minor radius r, although the variation
of [B
tor
[ with r is weak for typical tokamaks. Thus, the magnetic eld in a
tokamak is modeled by
B = B
tor
+B
pol
B
z
(r) e
z
+B
(r) e
, screw pinch model eld. (3.66)

Note that in the screw pinch model there is symmetry in the z, directions and
magnetic eld lines lie on constant radius (r) surfaces (e
r
dx/d = B
r
/B = 0).
The poloidal magnetic eld is related to the axial component of the current
density J through the axial component of the equilibrium Amperes law:
e
z
B =
0
e
z
J =
1
r
d
dr
[ rB
(r) ] =
0
J
z
(r). (3.67)
Integrating this equation using the boundary condition (by symmetry) that
B
= 0 at r = 0 yields
B
(r) =

0
r
_
r
0
r
dr
J
z
(r
) =

0
I
z
(r)
2r
, poloidal magnetic eld, (3.68)
in which I
z
(r)
__
dS(z) J is the axial current owing within a radius r.
Similarly, the radial variation of the toroidal magnetic eld B
z
is related to
the poloidal current density through e
B =
0
J
= dB
z
/dr =
0
J
,
which upon integration using the boundary condition that the currents in the
external poloidal coils and the plasma produce a toroidal magnetic eld strength
of B
z
(0) B
0
on the axis (r = 0) yields
B
z
(r) = B
0
_
1

0
B
0
_
r
0
dr
(r
)
_
B
0
, toroidal magnetic eld. (3.69)
In order to determine the radial dependence of B
z
, we need a specic plasma
model for the poloidal current density J
. However, as indicated by the approx-

imate equality, the magnetic eld induced by the poloidal current in a tokamak
is usually small because the helical pitch [see (3.73) below] of the eld lines
is small, and because the plasma-pressure-induced currents are small for low
pressure plasmas.
DRAFT 22:52
The magnetic uxes associated with the toroidal and poloidal magnetic elds
in the screw pinch model can be determined by calculating the magnetic uxes
in the z and symmetry directions (see Fig. 3.5):
tor

__
dS(z) B
tor
= 2
_
r
0
r
dr
B
z
(r
), toroidal magnetic ux, (3.70)
pol

__
dS() B
pol
= 2R
0
_
r
0
dr
(r
), poloidal magnetic ux. (3.71)

The screw pinch magnetic eld (3.66) can be written in terms of these magnetic
uxes using (3.40) or A = (
tor
/2) (
pol
/2)(z/R
0
):
B = (
tor
/2) +(z/R
0
)(
pol
/2)
= (
tor
/2)[ (/2) (z/R
0
)] (3.72)
in which we have used the denition of = (r) in (3.46). The last form is a
Clebsch representation with =
tor
/2 and = (/2) (z/R
0
). For this
Clebsch representation, the equation for a magnetic eld line is d = 0 =
tor
(r) = constant = r = constant and d = 0 = d = (/2) dz/R
0
=
= z (/2R
0
) + constant. Thus, the magnetic eld lines in a screw pinch lie
on r = constant surfaces and are naturally straight in the z plane with a
constant helical pitch (see Fig. 3.1c):
d
dz
=
(r)
2R
0
, helical pitch of eld lines. (3.73)
Note that the screw pinch model magnetic eld is in the toroidal ux form of
(3.45) with the straight eld line coordinates identied as
f
and
f
z/R
0
.
It is customary to characterize the inverse of the pitch of the helix of magnetic
eld lines in a tokamak by a global measure (see Fig. 3.8 and discussion in next
section) which is the number of toroidal (or axial periodicity length) transits of
a magnetic eld line per poloidal transit ( increasing from 0 to 2):
q(r)
# toroidal transits of a eld line
# poloidal transits of a eld line
, toroidal winding number
=
_
2R0/(/2)
0
dz/2R
0
_
2
0
d/2
=
2
(r)
=
d
tor
d
pol
=
r B
z
(r)
R
0
B
(r)
. (3.74)
The q value is also known as the safety factor because, as we will see in
Chapter 21, it must be greater than unity for macroscopic plasma stability in
a tokamak. Typical radial proles for the poloidal and toroidal currents and
magnetic elds and the consequent q prole are shown in Fig. 3.6. As indicated,
q typically ranges from about unity on axis to a value of 35 at the plasma
edge. In terms of q the helical pitch of the eld lines in (3.73) becomes simply
d/dz = 1/R
0
q.
DRAFT 22:52
Figure 3.6: Radial proles for a typical large aspect ratio tokamak: a) currents,
b) magnetic elds, and c) toroidal winding number q.
It is also customary in tokamaks to use the poloidal rather than toroidal
magnetic ux as the radial variable and to leave out the 2 factor by dening

pol
2
= R
0
_
r
0
dr
(r
), = R
0
B
(r) e
r
, poloidal ux function.
(3.75)
Thus, the normal magnetic ux representation of the screw pinch model for a
tokamak is
B = (q z/R
0
) B
0
e
z
+e
z
, screw pinch eld, (3.76)
in which the approximate form indicates the lowest order form in the large
aspect ratio limit << 1. Working out the magnetic eld components from
either (3.66) or (3.76) using (3.74), we obtain
B B
z
e
z
+B
= B
z
(r)
_
e
z
+
r
R
0
q(r)
e
_
B
0
_
e
z
+

q
e
_
, (3.77)
Note that the total magnetic eld strength in this model is
B =
_
B
2
z
+B
2
= B
z
_
1 +B
2
/B
2
z
= B
z
h B
0
(3.78)
in which we have dened the geometric factor
h B/B
z
=
_
1 +r
2
/R
2
0
q
2
=
_
1 +
2
/q
2
1. (3.79)
For typical tokamaks /q 0.1 << 1, so usually the poloidal () magnetic eld
is smaller than the toroidal (dominant) magnetic eld by about an order of
magnitude. Thus, for typical tokamaks the approximate equalities at the end of
equations (3.69), and (3.76)(3.79) and subsequent ones in this section apply.
Note also that hence the helical eld lines in typical tokamaks have only a slight
twist angle (torsion): r d/dz = r/R
0
q = /q << 1.
DRAFT 22:52
In the screw pinch model the magnetic eld strength is constant along a
magnetic eld line; hence from (3.3) the screw pinch model magnetic eld unit
vectors

b B/B neither converge or diverge. However, the magnetic eld in
this model does have torsion, curvature, a perpendicular gradient and shear.
For the screw pinch model the unit vector along the magnetic eld is
b
B
B
=
1
h
_
e
z
+
r
R
0
q
e
_

_
e
z
+

q
e
_
. (3.80)
Using the denition of the torsion in (??) with a unit normal N = /[[ =
e
r
, we nd that for the screw pinch model
= (
b )(
be
r
) =
r
hR
0
q
(e
)
e
h
=
1
h
2
R
0
q
e
, torsion. (3.81)
Here, we have used the vector identities (??), (??) and (??) along with =
e
/r to show that
(e
)e
= e
(e
) = e
(r) = e
(e
r
e
)/r = e
r
/r;
(3.82)
hence e
r
(e
)e
= 1/r. Thus, the distance along a magnetic eld line over

which it twists helically through one radian in the screw pinch model is
L
= 1/
r
= h
2
R
0
q R
0
q, torsion length. (3.83)
The torsion vector can also be written in terms of the magnetic eld com-
ponents as = (B
B
z
/rB
2
) e
r
see Problem 3.19. Note also that in the
tokamak limit of /q << 1 the helical pitch of the eld lines given in (3.73)
becomes simply the torsion
r
.
The curvature in the screw pinch model is worked out similarly using the
vector identities (??) and (3.82):
(
b )
b =
r
hR
0
q
(e
)
r
hR
0
q
e
=
r
(hR
0
q)
2
e
r
, curvature. (3.84)
The curvature of magnetic eld lines in the screw pinch model can be writ-
ten in terms of the magnetic eld components as = (B
2
/rB
2
) e
r
see
Problem 3.19. The curvature length R
C
1/[
r
[ = (hR
0
q)
2
/r R
0
q(q/) is
much longer than the torsion length L
R
0
q in the screw pinch model of a
tokamak because the curvature is produced only by the poloidal motion of the
small pitch helical eld lines. The perpendicular (radial) gradient scale length
[L
B
B/(dB/dr)] is of the order of the curvature radius R
C
. However, since
the dierence depends on the current and plasma pressure proles, it will not
be worked out until Chapter 20. Note also that since the curvature is only in
the radial direction there is only normal curvature. Because the magnetic eld
lines do not have curvature within a magnetic ux surface, there is no geodesic
curvature see (??) in Section D.6.
DRAFT 22:52
Finally, it can be shown (see Problem 3.25) that for the screw pinch model
the local magnetic shear dened in (??) and (3.25) becomes (see Problem 3.19
for the form of the magnetic shear in terms of the magnetic eld components
B
and B
z
):
(
be
r
) (
be
r
) =
1
L
S
=
r
h
2
R
0
d
dr
_
1
q
_
. (3.85)
Note that in the screw pinch model the shear is constant on a magnetic ux sur-
face (r = constant). Recalling from (3.74) that 1/q is just the radian rotational
transform /2 of the helical eld lines, the local shear can be written as
=
1
L
S
=
r
2h
2
R
0
d
dr
=
r
h
2
R
0
q
2
dq
dr
=
s
h
2
R
0
q

s
R
0
q
, magnetic shear,
(3.86)
in which
s(r)
r
q
dq
dr
, magnetic shear parameter, (3.87)
is an order unity magnetic shear parameter commonly used in stability analyses
of tokamak plasmas. There is magnetic shear in large aspect ratio tokamaks
only if the axial current density J
z
varies with radius r since B
(r)/r
(1/r
2
)
_
r
0
r
dr
J
z
(r
). By convention, in tokamak plasma analyses the sign of

the shear is reversed so that s > 0 indicates positive or normal magnetic
shear, and s < 0 indicates reversed or abnormal shear.
Having delineated the local dierential properties in the screw pinch model,
we can now develop a sheared slab model for it. At nite r since the curvature
and perpendicular gradient scale lengths are so long (compared to the torsion
and shear lengths) their eects are usually neglected in the simplest slab models.
As indicated previously, the sheared slab model does not include torsion eects.
Thus, the local sheared slab model for the screw pinch model of a tokamak near
a eld line at a radius r
0
is simply
B
ss
= B
0
b +
b
aux
= B
0
[
b + (x/L
S
) e
]. (3.88)
in which
aux
B
0
x
2
2L
S
, and e

be
r
=
1
h
_
e

q
e
z
_

_
e

q
e
z
_
.
(3.89)
Here, the sheared slab model coordinates x, y, z correspond to r r
0
, r
0
[
(/q)(z/R
0
)], z + (/q)r
0
and we identify the directions in terms of the cylin-
drical coordinate directions through the directions indicated in the unit vector
b
in (3.80) and a unit vector e
that is perpendicular to
b within the r = constant

(magnetic ux) surface.
The preceding discussion focused on the screw pinch model for tokamaks.
The screw pinch model can also be used to represent reversed eld pinch (RFP)
DRAFT 22:52
plasmas. In RFPs the toroidal and poloidal currents are much larger than those
in a tokamak (by a factor 1/ A >> 1). In particular, the poloidal current
J
is so large that it causes the toroidal magnetic eld to reverse direction in the
edge of the plasma [see (3.69)] hence the name of the connement concept.
The toroidal current in an RFP produces a poloidal magnetic eld B
that is
so large that q and the small /q expansion that is used for tokamaks is
inappropriate. Such a large poloidal magnetic eld also produces an order unity
helical pitch of the magnetic eld lines; magnetic eld lines in an RFP rotate
poloidally and toroidally on about the same length scales, and even become a
reversed direction helix (q < 0) in the edge of the plasma. For such a magnetic
eld structure the curvature is clearly dominated by the poloidal motion of
the eld lines; the toroidal curvature eects are higher order. Thus, to lowest
order the general [before the approximate equalities ()] screw pinch model
developed in this section is often used to approximately describe reversed eld
pinch plasmas. When a more precise description including toroidicity eects
is needed the full magnetic ux description developed in the following section
must be used.
3.6 Axisymmetric Toroidal Congurations*
For toroidal magnetic eld plasma connement systems with two magnetic eld
components (toroidal, poloidal) a tremendous simplication occurs when the sys-
tem is symmetric in the toroidal direction. Then, axisymmetric magnetic ux
surfaces are guaranteed to exist and both a Clebsch and ux surface representa-
tion are available. The resulting magnetic eld system is the simplest, nontrivial
toroidal magnetic eld system and is the basic paradigm for all types of toroidal
magnetic connement systems.
In this section we develop the commonly used axisymmetric toroidal mag-
netic eld descriptions and coordinate systems in general without using a
large aspect ratio expansion. We also show the relationship of the descriptions
and coordinates to the large aspect ratio tokamak and screw pinch models. At
the end of the section we discuss how the general axisymmetric toroidal model
can be used to describe other axisymmetric toroidal magnetic congurations.
The geometry we consider for an axisymmetric tokamak is shown in Fig. 3.7.
Since the toroidal magnetic eld is in the direction of axisymmetry () and
= e
/R in which R is the major radius, it can be written as

B
tor
= B
tor
e
= RB
tor
I , toroidal magnetic eld, (3.90)
in which we have dened
I RB
tor
, toroidal eld function. (3.91)
Because of the axisymmetry, I must be independent of : I/ = 0. The
toroidal eld function I can be related to the current owing in the poloidal ()
direction. The poloidal curent owing through a disk of (major) radius R that
DRAFT 22:52
Figure 3.7: Axismmetric tokamak coordinates (, , ) and geometry for calcu-
lating the poloidal current and magnetic ux.
is perpendicular to the axis of symmetry, as shown in Fig. 3.7, is given, using
Amperes magnetostatic law B =
0
J and Stokes theorem (??), by
I
pol

__
S
dS() J =
_
C
d B/
0
=
_
2
0
Rd B
tor
/
0
= (2/
0
) RB
tor
= (2/
0
) I. (3.92)
Here, the minus sign occurs because the dierential line element on the curve
C along the perimeter of the surface S is in the direction: d e
d.
Thus, the toroidal eld function I represents the poloidal current I
pol
owing
in the plasma and coils outside it. For isotropic pressure plasmas I = I(), i.e.,
I/ = 0.
In the limit of no current owing in the plasma, the toroidal eld function
I is constant and determined by the poloidal currents owing in the toroidal
magnetic eld coils around the plasma. Then, as can be inferred [see (??)] from
the magnetic eld caused by current owing in an innite wire on the symmetry
axis (R = 0), the vacuum toroidal magnetic eld strength decreases as one over
DRAFT 22:52
the major radius R:
B
tor
= I
0
/R = B
0
R
0
/R, vacuum toroidal magnetic eld strength, (3.93)
in which B
0
and R
0
are the magnetic eld strength and major radius at the
magnetic axis.
Next, we develop a form for the poloidal magnetic eld B
pol
. Using the
magnetic ux denition in (3.36) and taking account of the axisymmetry in the
toroidal () direction, the poloidal magnetic ux can be written in terms of the
toroidal component of the vector potential (A
tor
e
A = R A):
pol
=
__
S
dS() B =
_
C
d A =
_
2
0
Rd A
tor
= 2RA
tor
. (3.94)
For simplicity in the nal tokamak magnetic eld represention, it is convenient
to dene a normalized poloidal magnetic ux function:

pol
/2 = RA
tor
, poloidal ux function. (3.95)
Since by denition / = 0, the poloidal ux fuction is independent of
the toroidal angle but in general depends on the cylindrical-like coordinates
in a = constant plane: = (r, ). In terms of this poloidal ux function
the toroidal component of the vector potential can be written A
tor
= /R,
or vectorially as A
tor
= (/R) e
= . Thus, using (3.40), the magnetic

eld component produced by this magnetic ux becomes
B
pol
= A
tor
= , poloidal magnetic eld. (3.96)
The strength of the poloidal magnetic eld is
B
pol
= [[ = [[/R, poloidal magnetic eld strength, (3.97)
which shows that [[ = RB
pol
. The magnetic axis of the tokamak is dened
to be where B
pol
= 0 and hence = 0.
Adding the two components of the magnetic eld, the total magnetic eld
becomes simply
B = B
tor
+B
pol
= I +, axisymmetric magnetic eld.
(3.98)
While this form is quite compact, it is unfortunately in neither a Clebsch form
nor a two component magnetic ux form. Also, it is not written in terms of
straight-eld-line coordinates, and it is a mixed covariant and contravariant
form see Section D.8. Nonetheless, because this representation is compact
and rigorously valid it is heavily used in analyses of axisymmetric toroidal and
in particular tokamak plasmas.
Since by axisymmetry the poloidal ux function must be independent of the
toroidal angle (i.e., / = 0), taking the dot product of B with we obtain
B = (B
tor
+B
pol
) = I + = 0. (3.99)
DRAFT 22:52
Thus, the poloidal ux function satises the ux surface condition (3.37);
hence, magnetic eld lines in axisymmetric toroidal systems lie on = con-
stant surfaces and will be a convenient magnetic ux surface label and radial
coordinate. Note that, by construction and because of axisymmetry, is a suit-
able magnetic ux function for both the toroidal and poloidal magnetic elds.
Thus, we can develop a combined magnetic uxes and Clebsch magnetic eld
representation like (3.45) based on it.
So far we have identied two useful curvilinear coordinates for describing
the tokamak magnetic eld: the axisymmetry angle for the toroidal angle and
the poloidal magnetic ux function for the radial variable. Next, we need
to identify a useful poloidal angle variable. We would like to have a poloidal
angle coordinate in which magnetic eld lines are straight. Thus, we would like
a poloidal angle such that the magnetic eld representation could be put in the
combined Clebsch and magnetic ux representation given by (3.45), with /2
replaced by 1/q and
tor
/2 replaced by for a tokamak representation.
In order to put the tokamak magnetic eld (3.98) in the form of (3.45), the
toroidal magnetic eld (3.90) must be put into the straight-eld-line form
B
tor
= (q) = B = (q) (3.100)
in which
f
(tokamak convention) is the desired straight eld line poloidal
angle. Taking the dot product of the two forms of B
tor
given in (3.90) and
(3.100) with and equating them, we obtain
B
tor
= I = I/R
2
= (q) = q () = q B
pol
(3.101)
in which we have used q = 0 [because q is only a function of see
(3.105) below] and the order of the vector operations has been rearranged using
(??) and (??). Equating the results on the two lines of (3.101), we nd
B
pol
= I/qR
2
= B , (3.102)
where the last equality follows from the fact that since by axisymmetry the
angle must be independent of , B
tor
= 0; thus, B = B
pol
.
Dening a dierential length d
pol
in the poloidal direction on a magnetic ux
surface, the last form of (3.101) yields
pol
=
1
B
pol
I
qR
2
= =
1
q
_

pol
d
pol
B
pol
I
R
2
, (3.103)
in which the integration is to be performed at constant , . The poloidal length
variable
pol
can be dened in terms of the ordinary cylindrical angle about the
magnetic axis. Taking the dot product of the eld line equation (3.28) with
and
pol
, we nd that the poloidal length variable is related to the cylindrical
angle by
dx
d
=
B
B
,
dx
pol
d
=
B
pol
B
=
d
B
=
d
pol
B
pol
.
(3.104)
DRAFT 22:52
Integrating the last form of (3.103) over one complete poloidal traversal of
the ux surface, which we dene to be = 2, we obtain an expression for the
toroidal winding number:
q() =
1
2
_
d
pol
B
pol
I
R
2
=
1
2
_
d
B
I
R
2
or,
q() =
1
2
_
d
B
B

1
2
_
d
rB
tor
RB
pol
rB
tor
RB
pol
[1 +O
2
]. (3.105)
Here, we have used I/R
2
= B from (3.101) and indicated in the approxi-
mate equalities (here and below) the forms that result in the large aspect ratio
limit ( << 1). Note that the lowest order, approximate form for q agrees with
the screw pinch model result (3.74).
The toroidal winding number q may be an integer or the ratio of two integers
(e.g., q = m/n); then, a magnetic eld line on that surface would close on itself
after an integer number of poloidal (n) and toroidal (m) transits around the
torus see (3.74) and Fig. 3.8. Such a surface is called a rational surface.
All magnetic eld lines on a rational surface rotate with the same rotational
transform , running forever parallel to adjacent eld lines on the ux surface;
hence, they sample only a given eld line on the ux surface. On the other hand,
if q is not the ratio of two integers, then the ux surface is called irrational. Thus,
we dene (see Fig. 3.8)
q() = m/n, rational ux surface,
q() ,= m/n, irrational ux surface,
(3.106)
in which m, n are integers. Magnetic eld lines on an irrational ux surface
do not close on themselves; however, if they are followed long enough, they
ll the entire ux surface. This is called ergodic behavior since all points on
the surface are then equally sampled at least statistically in an asymptotic
limit. Note that the vast majority of ux surfaces are irrational; they form a
dense set. Rational surfaces are infrequent, separated radially (i.e., in ) and
of measure zero. Nonetheless, they are very important in magnetized toroidal
plasmas because physical processes taking place on adjacent rational eld lines
are mostly isolated from each other, and because they are degenerate eld lines
that are especially vulnerable to resonant nonaxisymmetric perturbations that
can produce magnetic island structures like those discussed in Section 3.3.
An explicit expression for will now be obtained. Using the rigorous form
of the denition of q in (3.105) and dening like the simple geometric angle
to be zero on the outer midplane of the torus, we can develop from (3.104)
explicit expressions for the straight-eld-line poloidal angle:

1
q
_

0
d
I
R
2
=
1
q
_

0
d
B
I
R
2
=
1
q
_

0
d
B
B
. (3.107)
DRAFT 22:52
Figure 3.8: Puncture plots of magnetic eld lines in a = constant plane on
a magnetic ux surface in an axisymmetric torus. The numbers listed indicate
the number of toroidal transits executed by a eld line. On rational surfaces
eld lines retrace the same trajectory after m toroidal transits whereas on an
irrational surface a single eld line is ergodic and (eventually) samples the entire
surface.
It can be shown using steps like the last few ones in (3.105) that, to lowest order
in a large aspect ratio expansion (e.g., near the magnetic axis), the straight eld
line coordinate is equal to the local cylindrical coordinate :
= O sin . (3.108)
The order sinusoidal variations of with depend on the currents owing
in the plasma; their evaluation will be deferred until Chapter 20 where we use
the macroscopic force balance equations in a nite-pressure tokamak plasma to
determine the currents in a tokamak plasma and the shape of the (x) surfaces.
As can be seen from Fig. 3.1d, the magnetic eld in a tokamak has parallel
and perpendicular gradients, curvature (both normal and geodesic), and local
torsion and shear that are not constant along the magnetic eld. Below, we will
give general expressions for each of these properties both in general, and also in
their lowest order forms in a large aspect ratio ( << 1), low plasma pressure
expansion. To lowest (zeroth) order the magnetic ux surfaces become circles
about the magnetic axis. (To rst order in the ux surfaces are still circles, but
their centers are shifted outward slightly in major radius see Section 20.4.)
Thus, to lowest order we will use the r, , z coordinates of a cylinder whose z
axis lies on the magnetic axis of the tokamak, of a type shown in Fig. 3.1d. To
lowest order the model will mostly reduce to the screw pinch model discussed
in the preceding section compare Fig. 3.5 with Fig. 3.7.
The major radius R to any point in the plasma will be given in terms of the
DRAFT 22:52
major radius of the magnetic axis (R
0
) and the local cylindrical coordinates by
R = R(, ) R
0
[ 1 + cos +O
2
]. (3.109)
Using this approximate representation in the equation for the vacuum magnetic
eld strength variation with R given in (3.93) and the fact that in our tokamak
model B B
tor
[ 1 +O
2
/q
2
], we obtain
B = B(, ) B(r, ) B
0
[ 1 cos +O
2
], tokamak eld strength.
(3.110)
The magnetic eld strength in a tokamak varies approximately sinusoidally
along a helical magnetic eld line from its minimum on the outside ( = 0 where
B
min
/B
0
1) to its maximum on the inside ( = where B
max
/B
0
1+)
of the torus. Thus, it can be represented by the sinusoidal model in (3.6) using
R
0
q and L
2R
0
q. The magnitude of the variation along a magnetic
eld line is usually small: B B
max
B
min
2B
0
<< B
0
. Hence, the mag-
netic mirror ratio dened in (3.7) is usually only slightly greater than unity:
R
m
B
max
/B
min
1 + 2. In summary, the variation of the magnetic eld
strength along eld lines in large aspect ratio tokamaks can be modeled by (3.6)
with
B
min
(1 )B
0
, B 2B
0
, R
0
q , L
2R
0
q,
tokamak B
sin
model parameters. (3.111)
To calculate the perpendicular gradient, curvature and shear in the tokamak
magnetic eld we need to explicitly relate the tokamak magnetic ux system
coordinates , , , which are unfortunately not orthogonal ( ,= 0), to
the local cylindrical coordinates (r, , z) about the magnetic axis:
B
pol
Rr B
pol
R
0
e
r
, (r)
_
r
0
dr B
pol
R
0
, (3.112)

e
r
, B =
I
qR
2

B
pol
r

B
0
R
0
q
, (3.113)
=
e
R

e
R
0
[ 1 cos +O
2
]. (3.114)
The poloidal magnetic eld strength oscillates slightly with poloidal angle:
B
pol
[[/R (/q)B
0
[ 1 +O cos ]. (3.115)
In calculating gradients of various quantities in tokamak system coordinates,
we just use chain rule dierentiation:
B
B
=
1
B
_
_

1
R
0
[ e
r
cos +e
sin +O] .
(3.116)
DRAFT 22:52
in which we have used (3.93) and / terms vanish by axisymmetry. In a toka-
mak with low plasma pressure and hence a small poloidal current (see Chapter
20) the JB contribution to the curvature is small. Thus, using (3.20) the
curvature is given by
=

B
B
+
0
JB
B
2

1
B
_
1
R
0
[ e
r
cos +e
sin +O] , tokamak curvature vector. (3.117)

To this lowest order the curvature is simply the toroidal curvature of the system.
Note that a tokamak has both normal (perpendicular to the ux surface,
N

r
= cos /R
0
) and geodesic (within the ux surface,
B

= sin /R
0
)
curvature see Section D.6. Note further that, because of the inclusion of
toroidicity eects, the tokamak curvature is one order in larger than that in
the screw pinch model (3.84); however, its sign oscillates with the poloidal angle
and its average is of the same order as the curvature in the screw pinch model.
To determine the O terms in (3.117) we need to take account of the plasma
pressure and current proles in the tokamak see Chapter 20.
Using a number of vector identities and other manipulations (see Problem
3.29), it can be shown that the normal torsion in a tokamak can be written as
N
=
I [[
B
2
R
(B)
_

_
qR[[
I
_
+

_
qR[[
I
__
1
R
0
q
[ 1 +O cos ], tokamak local torsion, (3.118)
which to the lowest order is the same as in the screw pinch model see (3.81).
Similarly, the magnetic shear in a tokamak becomes (see Problem 3.31):
y
=
[[
2
B
2
(B)
_

(q)
_
=
[[
2
B
2
(B)
_
dq
d
+q

__

1 +O( cos )
R
0
q
[ s O cos ], tokamak local shear, (3.119)
which again to lowest order is the same as in the screw pinch model see
(3.86). [The convention in the tokamak literature is to reverse the sign of the
shear so that it is positive for normal tokamaks in which q increases with
radius (see Fig. 3.6).] Note that both the local torsion and local shear have order
sinsoidal variations along a magnetic eld line as it moves from the outside to
inside of the torus but their averages over a magnetic ux surface (i.e., over
) are approximately given by their respective values in the screw pinch model.
Again, to obtain the next order () terms correctly we need to take account of
plasma currents and pressures, which we defer until Chapter 20.
In this section we have developed the magnetic eld representation and prop-
erties of axisymmetric toroidal magnetic eld systems in general, and then in-
dicated the lowest order results in the large aspect ratio expansion ( r/R
0
=
DRAFT 22:52
1/A << 1) after an approximate equality sign (). While the discussion has fo-
cused on the tokamak magnetic eld structure, the general development applies
to any axisymmetric toroidal system. Thus, it applies to spherical tokamaks
[very low aspect ratio (A 1.11.5) tokamaks], spheromaks [eectively unity
aspect ratio tokamaks without toroidal eld coils] and reversed eld pinches
[eectively tokamaks with very low q << 1]. For spherical tokamaks and
spheromaks the full generality of the magnetic ux coordinates must be used
because a large aspect ratio expansion is invalid except for small radius ux
surfaces near the magnetic axis where a large aspect ratio expansion can be
used. As indicated at the end of the preceding section, the general screw pinch
model represents reversed eld pinches except for the purely toroidal eects
(variation of B from the outer to inner edge of the torus and toroidal curva-
ture of eld lines). These latter eects are included in the general magnetic
ux model developed in this section. In summary, the general magnetic ux
surface model developed in this section is appropriate for describing all types of
axisymmetric toroidal magnetic eld congurations tokamaks, reversed eld
pinches, spherical tokamaks, and spheromaks.
3.7 Local Expansion of a Magnetic Field+
In order to develop a comprehensive picture of all the possible rst derivative
properties of a magnetic eld, in this section we carry out a formal Taylor series
expansion of the magnetic induction vector eld B(x). The expansion will be
carried out at an arbitrary point in the magnetic conguration where the origin
of a local Cartesian coordinate system will be placed. Thus, our local Taylor
series expansion (subscript le) becomes
B
le
(x) = B
0
+x B
0
+. . . , (3.120)
in which B
0
is the magnetic induction eld at the chosen point, x is the vector
distance from this point, and B
0
represents the evaluation of the tensor Bat
this point. The second and higher order terms in (3.120) will be neglected since
we are interested here only in the local properties of non-pathological magnetic
elds for which the rst derivatives provide a sucient description.
This section uses a number of vector dierentiation identities and seeks to
connect the local magnetic eld derivatives to the common denitions of most
of these properties for arbitrary vector elds. These subjects are summarized
briey in Appendix D, and in particular in the Section D.6. Readers are en-
couraged to read the relevant sections in Appendix D in conjunction with this
section.
As usual we decompose the magnetic induction eld B(x) into its vector
direction and scalar magnitude components at any spatial point x by writing
B(x) = B
b = B(x)
b(x), (3.121)
DRAFT 22:52
in which
B(x) [B(x)[ =

B B, magnetic eld strength, (3.122)
b(x) B(x)/B(x) = B/B, unit vector along B(x). (3.123)

Using this decomposition, we can write the tensor B
0
as
B
0
(B
b)
0
=

b
0
B
0
+B
0
b
0
, (3.124)
in which

b
0
is the unit vector

b evaluated at the origin (point of interest) and
B
0
,
b
0
are B,
b evaluated at this same point.

To work out the various components of the
b and hence B tensors we

can use a local Cartesian coordinate system whose z axis is aligned along

b
at x = (0, 0, 0) (i.e.,

b
0
) and which has its x axis in a particular direction
perpendicular to

b
0
, which we will specify later. Thus, the orthonormal triad
of unit vectors characterizing this local coordinate system will be e
z
=

b
0
, e
x
,
e
y

b
0
e
x
. For notational simplicity, in what follows we omit the subscript
zero on the magnetic eld unit vector

b.
Consider rst the components locally parallel to the magnetic eld:
(
b)
zz

b (
b )
b =
b(
b) = 0,
(
b)
zx
[(
b )
b] e
x
= e
x
(
b )
b ,= 0,
(
b)
zy
[(
b )
b] e
y
= e
y
(
b )
b ,= 0,
(
b)
xz

b (e
x
)
b =
1
2
(e
x
)(
b) = 0,
(
b)
yz

b (e
y
)
b =
1
2
(e
y
)(
b) = 0,
(3.125)
in which we have used the fact that since

b is a unit vector, we have

b
b = 1,
and the vector identity,
1
2
(
b) = 0 =

b(
b) + (
b )
b. (3.126)
For the components locally perpendicular to the magnetic eld we have
(
b)
xx
e
x
(e
x
)
b,
(
b)
yy
e
y
(e
y
)
b,
(
b)
xy
e
y
(e
x
)
b = +e
y
e
y
e
x
(
b )e
y
,
(
b)
yx
e
x
(e
y
)
b = e
x
e
x
+e
x
(
b )e
y
,
(3.127)
in which we have worked out the last two cross terms using vector dierentiation
identities (??) and (??) as follows:
e
y
(e
x
)
b = e
y
[(e
x
b) +e
x
(
b)
b( e
x
) + (
b )e
x
]
= e
y
e
y
+e
y
(
b )e
x
= e
y
e
y
e
x
(
b )e
y
,
(3.128)
and similarly for (
b)
yx
.
DRAFT 22:52
Taking the derivative of the equation along a magnetic eld line given in
(3.28) yields the second derivative of the eld lines coordinate and hence the
local curvature of the magnetic eld [d/d (
b )]:

d
2
b()
d
2
= (
b )
b =
b(
b), curvature vector, (3.129)

which is perpendicular to the local magnetic eld (
b = 0). The zx, zy

components of the tensors
b can be written in terms of the x, y components

of the curvature vector:
(
b)
zx
= e
x
(
b )
b = e
x

x
,
(
b)
zy
= e
y
(
b )
b = e
y

y
.
(3.130)
The x component of the curvature vector is the same as the
x
in the sheared
slab model given by (3.16) and (3.21). From geometrical considerations the
radius of the curvature vector R
C
is antiparallel to the curvature vector .
Hence it is given by
R
C
= /
2
, or = R
C
/R
2
C
, radius of curvature. (3.131)
The torsion of a vector eld is by convention dened to be the negative of the
parallel derivative of the binormal vector, which for our geometry is
be
x
= e
y
:
= (
b ) (
be
x
) = (
b ) e
y
, torsion vector. (3.132)
The x component of this vector is given by
x
e
x
(
b )e
y
= e
y
(
b )e
x
, (3.133)
which is a quantity that appears in xy and yx components of the tensor
b.
Physically, the torsion vector measures the change in direction (or twist) of the
binormal

be
x
as one moves along the magnetic eld.
Shear of a vector eld can be dened for the two directions perpendicular to
the magnetic eld by
x
e
x
e
x
= (
be
y
) (
be
y
), shear in surface perpendicular to x,
(3.134)
y
e
y
e
y
= (
be
x
) (
be
x
), shear in surface perpendicular to y.
(3.135)
That these quantities represent the local shear in the vector eld B can be
seen by realizing that, for example,

be
x
represents the surface locally per-
pendicular to e
y
, (
be
x
) represents the tangential motion (see Fig. ??) or
dierential twisting of this surface, and (
be
x
) (
be
x
) is the component
of this dierential twisting in the original direction e
y
. Note that if e
x
(or e
y
)
DRAFT 22:52
were a unit vector corresponding to a contravariant base vector u
i
in a curvi-
linear coordinate system (see Section D.8), then e
i
= u
i
/[u
i
[ and hence
i

e
i
e
i
= (u
i
u
i
)/[u
i
[
2
= 0. Thus, there is no shear in a direction
described by the gradient of a scalar function (e.g., a magnetic ux function)
because the gradient of a scalar is an irrotational quantity (f = 0). The
corresponding parallel shear

b
b (or parallel component of the vorticity

in the vector eld B) can be written in terms of the x component of the torsion
vector and the two perpendicular shear components as follows:
z

b
b = 2
x
+
x
+
y
, parallel component of vorticity in B eld.
(3.136)
In the absence of shear, this relation is analogous to the component of rotation
of a rigidly rotating uid in its direction of ow, i.e.,
1
2
VV.
The xy and yx or cross components of the
b tensor can be written in

terms of the x, y components of the torsion and shear as follows:
(
b)
xy
=
y
+
x
,
(
b)
yx
=
x
+
x
.
(3.137)
The divergence of the unit vector

b can be written as [using (??)]
b = e
x
(e
x
)
b +e
y
(e
y
)
b +
0
..
b (
b )
b. (3.138)
Thus, the xx and yy (or diagonal matrix element) components of the
b tensor
represent the x and y components of the divergence of the unit vector

b. We
dene these divergence () components of the vector eld B as follows:
x
e
x
(e
x
)
b = (1/B)[e
x
(e
x
)B],
y
e
y
(e
y
)
b = (1/B)[e
y
(e
y
)B].
(3.139)
Collecting together the various components of the tensor
b we thus nd,
in matrix form,
b = (e
x
e
y

b)
_
_
x

x
+
y
0
x

y
0
x

y
0
_
_
_
_
e
x
e
y
b
_
_
. (3.140)
Further, using this result in (3.124), we nd that the tensor B can be similarly
written as
B
_
e
x
e
y

b
_
_
_
B
x
/x B
y
/x B
z
/x
B
x
/y B
y
/y B
z
/y
B
x
/z B
y
/z B
z
/z
_
_
_
_
e
x
e
y
b
_
_
= B
0
_
e
x
e
y

b
_
_
_
x

x
+
y

x
x

y

y
x

y

z
_
_
_
_
e
x
e
y
b
_
_
,
(3.141)
DRAFT 22:52
in which the dierential parameters of the magnetic eld, including some new
gradient () ones which we have introduced here, are dened by:
x

1
B
[e
x
(e
x
)B],
y

1
B
[e
y
(e
y
)B],
z

1
B
(
b )B, divergence,
x
e
x
(
b )
b,
y
e
y
(
b )
b, curvature,
x
e
x
(
b )e
y
,
y
e
y
(
b )e
x
=
x
, torsion,
x
e
x
e
x
,
y
e
y
e
y
, shear,
x
e
x
ln B,
y
e
y
ln B,
b ln B
0
=
z
, gradient B.
(3.142)
Using the expression for B in (3.120) yields the following Taylor series expan-
sion for the magnetic induction eld B:
B
le
B
0
[
b( 1 + x ln B) lowest order + gradient (B)

+ z curvature, (
b )
b =
x
e
x
+
y
e
y
+
x
(xe
y
y e
x
) torsion, xe
y
y e
x
=
1
2
b(x
2
+y
2
)
+ (x
y
e
y
y
x
e
x
) shear
+ (x
x
e
x
+y
y
e
y
) ] divergence
(3.143)
= B
0
[
b( 1 +x
x
+y
y
+z
z
)
+e
x
(z
x
y
x
y
x
+x
x
) +e
y
(z
y
+x
x
+x
y
+y
y
)].
Note that this general result simplies to the sheared slab model (3.8) when the
parameters
y
,
z
,
y

x
,
x
,
x
,
y
and
z
all vanish, i.e., when the magnetic
eld does not vary in the y, z directions, and there is no shear in the x direction
and no torsion of the magnetic eld lines.
The solenoidal condition ( B = 0) will be satised by this local expansion
as long as
0 =
1
B
B
le
=
1
B
[e
x
(e
x
)B] +
1
B
[e
y
(e
y
)B] +
b ln B =
x
+
y
+
z
.
(3.144)
Thus, the three diagonal components of the matrix of B tensor elements are
not independent; there are only 8 independent components of the B tensor.
The curl of our local approximation of the magnetic induction eld B is
given by
B
le
= B
0
[
b(ln B + ) +
b(
b) ], (3.145)
in which we have made use of (3.136). As in the sheared slab model, for plasma
equilibrium situations where the magnetostatic Amperes law applies, the cur-
rents owing in the plasma provide further constraint relations between the
various local dierential parameters involved in (3.145). In particular, since cur-
rents perpendicular to magnetic elds are typically small, usually
ln B
DRAFT 22:52

b(
bln B), i.e., the curvature vector is approximately equal to the

perpendicular gradient of the magnetic eld strength. Also, the parallel shear
(parallel component of vorticity in the magnetic eld

b
b =
0
B J/B
2
) is
nonzero only if current ows along the magnetic eld, i.e, B J ,= 0.
The curvature, shear and perpendicular gradient properties of a magnetic
eld were discussed in the context of the sheared slab model in Section 3.1.
They are illustrated in Fig. 3.2 and their eects mathematically described in
(3.14) and (3.24). The additional magnetic eld line properties of torsion and
divergence can be understood as follows.
Eliminating all but the torsion terms in (3.143), the x, y, z equations govern-
ing the trajectory of a magnetic eld line deduced from (3.28) become simply
dx
d
= y
x
,
dy
d
= x
x
,
dz
d
= 1 = = z.
Dividing the second equation by the rst yields
dy
dx
=
x
y
= d (x
2
+y
2
) = 0,
whose solution is
x
2
+y
2
= x
2
0
+r
2
0
r
2
0
= constant.
This result can be used to reduce the equation for dx/d = dx/dz to one in only
two variables:
dx
dz
= y
x
= (r
2
0
x
2
)
1/2
x
= arcsin
x
r
0
= z
x
+ constant.
The equations governing a eld line with torsion
x
that passes through the
point x
0
, y
0
are thus given by
x = r
0
sin(z
x
+
0
), y = r
0
cos(z
x
+
0
),
0
arctan(y
0
/x
0
).
(3.146)
These equations show that torsion means that as one moves along a magnetic
eld line it undergoes circular motion through an angle of one radian in an axial
distance of
1
x
L
in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic eld see

Figure 3.9a. Comparing the eld line trajectory equations for torsion with that
derived previously for shear, (3.24), or Fig. 3.9a with 3.9b, we see that whereas
torsion represents rigid body rotation or twisting of the eld lines in the
plane perpendicular to the magnetic eld, shear (
x
= 0,
y
,= 0 for Fig. 3.2b)
represents dierential twisting of eld lines out of a plane (the xz plane for
y
,= 0). Thus, whereas the torsion terms can be removed by transforming to a
rotating coordinate system, the eects of magnetic shear cannot be removed by
such coordinate transformations.
To explore the divergence of magnetic eld lines we eliminate all but the
x
and
z
terms in (3.143), and take
z
=
x
so as to satisfy the solenoidal con-
dition (3.144). Then, the equations governing the magnetic eld line trajectory
DRAFT 22:52
Figure 3.9: Additional magnetic eld line characteristics. In each sketch the
nature of magnetic eld lines are indicated when only the identied coecient(s)
do not vanish.
in the xz plane become
dx
d
= x
x
,
dz
d
1.
Integrating the rst equation a short distance (z
x
<< 1) along the magnetic
eld line that passes through the point x = (x
0
, 0, 0) yields
x(z) = x
0
e
xz
= x
0
e
zz
= x
0
exp
_
z
d ln B
dz
_

x
0
B(0)
B(z)
. (3.147)
This result shows that the divergence (
x
> 0) in the xz plane (cf., Fig. 3.9b)
is accompanied by a decrease in the magnetic eld strength [
z
d ln B/dz < 0,
B(z) < B(0) for z > 0], as is required by the solenoidal condition B = 0
see (3.2) and (3.144). The divergence scale length
1
x
(or equivalently [
z
[
1
)
is the linear extrapolation distance along a eld line over which the density of
magnetic eld lines would decrease (increase for
x
< 0,
z
> 0) in magnitude
by a factor of two and the eld lines diverge (converge) by a factor of e.
We can also develop a Taylor series expansion of the magnetic induction eld
B(x) about a given magnetic eld line. Here, we dene x
b(
bx) as the
small vectorial distance o a given magnetic eld line in the x, y plane locally
perpendicular to the eld line. The axial distance along the magnetic eld line
is parameterized by the length along it from an initial reference point. Thus,
DRAFT 22:52
the desired expansion is
B
le
(x
, ) = B
0
()
b
0
() +x
B
0
()
= B
0
()
_
b
0
() [ 1 +x
ln B
0
() ]
+
1
2
b
0
()(x
2
+y
2
) + [x
y
e
y
y
x
e
x
] + [x
x
e
x
+y
y
e
y
]
_
(3.148)
in which all quantities are now evaluated on a particular eld line (i.e., at
x
= 0), but the functional dependence on remains. Compared to the expan-

sion about a point given in (3.143), we see that the curvature () and parallel
gradient (
z
) or divergence (
z
) terms are missing from the expansion about a
eld line because these eects are included via

b
0
() and B
0
(). Note also
that this eld line expansion for B satises the solenoidal condition B = 0 as
long as (3.144) is satised, and yields the result given in (3.145) for B. Since
charged particles in a plasma usually move much more easily (and hence traverse
much longer distances) along magnetic eld lines than perpendicular to them,
the expansion about a eld line is usually more useful, at least conceptually, for
plasma physics applications.
As discussed in Sections 3.2, 3.43.6, often in plasma physics there exist
a set of nested magnetic ux surfaces (x) that surround nested bundles of
magnetic eld lines. When such surfaces exist, is locally perpendicular to
the magnetic eld and it can be used to specify the directions of the unit vectors
in the plane locally perpendicular to the magnetic eld:
e
x
/[[, e
y

b/[
b[ =
b/[[. (3.149)
For such cases it is customary to call the curvature component in the direction
perpendicular to the magnetic ux surfaces (i.e., in the direction) the normal
curvature and the curvature component within the magnetic ux surface (i.e.,
in the

b direction) the geodesic curvature:
x
=
/[[, normal () curvature,
y
=
b/[[, geodesic (
b) curvature.
(3.150)
Since this x coordinate direction is in the direction of the gradient of a scalar,
the shear in the x direction vanishes:
x
= /[[
2
= 0. However,
there can still be shear in the y direction; it can be written as
y
=
(
b) (
b)
[
b[
2
, shear for e
x
. (3.151)
The torsion for this situation where magnetic ux surfaces are assumed to exist
can be written as
x
=
(
b )(
b)
[[
2
, torsion for e
x
. (3.152)
DRAFT 22:52
Using these relations in (??) along with the fact that for e
x
we have
x
e
x
e
x
= (/[[) (/[[) = 0, we can write the parallel
shear in the magnetic eld as

b
b =
0
B J/B
2
=
y
+ 2
x
, parallel shear for e
x
.
(3.153)
Note that this relation provides a relationship between the parallel current and
the torsion and shear in the magnetic eld. It is the parallel current analogy
to the relationship between the curvature vector,
ln B and perpendicular
current given in (3.20). Finally, the x and y eld line divergence parameters
can be written as
x
=
b (e
x
)e
x
= (
be
x
) ([[
1
) = (
b ) ln [[, (3.154)
y
=
x
z
= (
b ) ln [[ (
b ) ln B, divergences with e
x
.
(3.155)
These simplied formulas for the situation where the x coordinate is taken to
be in the magnetic ux surface gradient direction are the most commonly used
ones in plasma physics.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READING
Plasma physics books that discuss some aspects of the structure of magnetic elds
include
Bittencourt, Fundamentals of Plasma Physics, Chapt. 3 (1986) [?]
Hazeltine and Meiss, Plasma Connement, Chapt. 3 (1992) [?]
Miyamoto, Plasma Physics for Nuclear Fusion, Chapt. 2 (1980) [?]
Schmidt, Physics of High Temperature Plasmas (1966,79) [?]
White, Theory of Tokamak Plasmas, Chapts. 12 (1989) [?]
Comprehensive treatments of the structure of magnetic elds for plasma physics ap-
plications are given in
Morozov and Solovev, The Geometry of the Magnetic Field in Reviews of
Plasma Physics, M.A. Leontovich Ed., Vol.2, p.1 (1966). [?]
Dhaeseleer, Hitchon, Callen and Shohet, Flux Coordinates and Magnetic Field
Structure (1991) [?]
PROBLEMS
3.1 The magnetic eld strength inside a solenoidal magnet composed of a series of
circular coils can be characterized by a uniform magnetic eld B = B0ez plus
a small ripple eld whose magnitude on axis is given by B =

B sin(2z/L) in
which L is the axial distance between the magnets and

B << B. Develop a
sinusoidal model of the type given by (3.6) for this situation; that is, specify
all the parameters of the sinusoidal model for this bumpy cylinder magnetic
eld. Sketch the behavior of the eld lines inside the solenoid using (3.3). /
DRAFT 22:52
3.2 First, show that the magnetic eld around a wire carrying a current I in the z
direction is given by B = [0I/(2r)]e
, where r is the radius from the center

of the wire. Next, show that the curvature vector for this magnetic eld is
= er/r and hence that the radius of curvature of the magnetic eld lines is
r. Finally, show that for the simple magnetic eld =
B. /
3.3 Show by direct calculation starting from (3.15) that for a vacuum (J = 0)
magnetic eld which can be represented by B = M one obtains =
ln B, as follows from (3.20) for this situation. //

3.4 Integrate the eld line equation dx/dz = Bx/Bz for the sheared slab model to
obtain the eld line trajectory in the y = constant plane. Why is the result
slightly dierent from that in (3.14)? /
3.5 Use (3.31) to determine a potential representation for the bumpy cylinder mag-
netic eld given in Problem 3.1 in the form of M = M0(z) +

M(r, z). Check
your result by calculating |B| for your model and comparing it to the desired
result. //
3.6 Propose a suitable magnetic ux and a vector potential for a cylindrical model
of an innite, homogeneous magnetic eld, and show that they yield the desired
magnetic eld. /
3.7 Calculate Clebsch , and coordinates for the sheared slab model as follows.
First, write down three independent eld line equations for dx/dz, dy/dz, and
dz/d. Integrate the rst two of these equations to obtain
(x) = B
0
_
x + x
2
/2LB z
2
/2RC
_
= constant = x = x(z, )
(x) = y
1
LS
_
z
0
dz
x(z
, )
1 + x(z
, )/LB
= constant = y = y(z, , ).
Show that the indicated eld line equations reduce to (3.14) and (3.24) near the
origin. In which directions do and point? Also, show that
yields the slab model eld given in (3.8). Next, integrate the third eld line
equation to obtain an expression for that is correct through rst order. Calcu-
late ; in what direction does it point? Finally, calculate B ; explain why
your result is (or is not) physically reasonable. //
3.8 For the sheared slab model, why is the eld line equation in (3.14) dierent from
that implied by constancy of the z in (3.41) or the given in the preceding
problem? /
3.9 Show that the toroidal and poloidal magnetic eld components given in (3.44)
give the respective toroidal and poloidal magnetic uxes. //
3.10 Show that when closed toroidal magnetic ux surfaces exist the toroidal and
poloidal magnetic uxes can be calculated from 2tor =
_
d
3
x B and
2
pol
=
_
d
3
x B in which the volume integrals are taken over a closed
toroidal ux surface. [Hint: A relevant volume for the toroidal surface tor
encloses a torus dened by surfaces that satisfy B = 0, but has a cut at
a = constant plane.] ///
3.11 Obtain the radial curvature R from a denition like (3.13) for an axisymmetric
magnetic mirror. /*
3.12 Develop a magnetic ux representation in the form (R, ) = 0(R) +

(R, Z)
for the bumpy cylinder magnetic eld given in Problem 3.1. Check your result
by calculating |B| for your model and comparing it to the desired result. //*
DRAFT 22:52
3.13 Give an approximate equation for the variation of the radius of a eld line in
the bumpy cylinder magnetic eld given in Problem 3.1 when

B << B0. /*
3.14 Write down the relevant eld line equation for a dipole magnetic eld. Integrate
this equation to determine r = r() along a magnetic eld line in terms of the
radius r0 at the equatorial plane. Substitute your result into (3.60) to obtain
the variation of the magnetic eld strength with along eld lines. What is the
magnetic mirror ratio to a latitude of 45
o
? Finally, show that near the equatorial
plane the magnetic eld strength can be represented by the quadratic well model
with L
= (
2/3)r0. //*
3.15 Consider a screw pinch model situation where current only ows parallel to the
magnetic eld. Assume the parallel current density is given by J = J
(r)
b with
J
(r) 0 for 0 r a. What are the axial and poloidal current densities
for such a situation? Develop an expression for the toroidal magnetic eld
strength from (3.69) for such a situation. Show that the poloidal current eect
on Bz in the large aspect ratio tokamak limit where /q 0.1 << 1 is of
order (/q)
2
10
2
<< 1. Does the owing current produce a diamagnetic or
paramagnetic eect in the region where the current J
is owing? that is,

does it decrease or increase Bz inside the plasma? Finally, give an expression
for the radial variation of the total magnetic eld strength for such a case. //*
3.16 Show for the screw pinch model of a large aspect ratio tokamak with Bz(r) B0
which has a well-behaved current density prole near the magnetic axis (i.e.,
dJz/dr = 0 at r = 0 so that Jz J0 +r
2
J
0
/2), that q increases with radius and
can be approximated by q(r) = q(0)/(1 r
2
/r
2
J
) near the magnetic axis. What
is the sign of J
0
for a prole peaked at r = 0? Determine expressions for q(0)
and rJ in terms of J0 and J
0
. ///*
3.17 The value of q usually decreases with radius away from the magnetic axis in a
reversed eld pinch. Use the combination of the two preceding models to obtain
the necessary conditions on the current prole for this to occur. ///*
3.18 Consider a box axial current proile given by Jz(r) = J0 H(r0 r) in which
H(x) is the Heaviside step function dened in (??). Calculate and sketch the
q(r) prole for this current prole in a screw pinch model of a tokamak for
0 r a 2 r0. Why does q increase as r
2
outside the current-carrying region
(i.e., for r0 r)? /*
3.19 Determine the forms of the magnetic eld curvature vector , torsion vector
and local shear for the screw pinch model in terms of the magnetic eld
components using

b B/B = (Bzez + B
)/B in the appropriate denitions

of these properties of a magnetic eld. Show that the results can be written as
=
B
2
rB
2
er, =
B
Bz
rB
2
er, =
Bz
B
d
dr
_
B
B
_
rB
d
dr
_
rBz
B
_
.
Also, show that these results reduce to the forms given in (3.84), (3.81) and
(3.85), respectively. //*
3.20 In a reversed eld pinch (RFP) the value of q(r) vanishes at the reversal surface
r
rev = 0 and it might seem from (3.86) and (3.87) that the magnetic shear is
undened there. For the screw pinch model show that the magnetic shear can
be written as
shear =
1
LS
=
_
r/R0
q
2
+ r
2
/R
2
0
_
dq
dr
.
DRAFT 22:52
What is magnetic shear length LS where q = 0? Evaluate this formula for LS
at the reversal surface for a model prole q(r) = q0 (q0 q
edge
) r
2
/a
2
with
q0 = 0.2, q
edge
= 0.1125 for an RFP with R0 = 1.6 m and a = 0.5 m. //*
3.21 For tokamak plasmas with noncircular cross-sections (in the = constant plane)
it is customary to dene an eective cylindrical winding number or safety factor:
q
cyl
2A
pol
Btor0/(0R0Itor) in which A
pol
is the cross-sectional area and Itor is
the toroidal current through that area. Show that in the circular cross-section,
large aspect ratio tokamak limit q
cyl
reduces to the q given in (3.74). /*
3.22 Use projections of the eld line denition (3.28) to obtain equations for d/dz
and d/d along a eld line in the screw pinch model. Integrate the eld line
equations to determine expressions for the length of a eld line in terms of the
axial distance z and the poloidal angle traversed by the eld line: = (r, z)
and = (r, ). //*
3.23 Attempt to obtain a sheared slab model around a radius r = r0 for the screw
pinch model by expanding the screw pinch model magnetic eld in (3.77) taking
the slab model ez to be in the direction of the

b in (3.80) evaluated at r = r0.
Explain why the shear parameter obtained this way is dierent from the =
1/LS indicated in the sheared slab model given in (3.86). //*
3.24 Show that for the screw pinch model magnetic eld
(
b )f =
1
B
_
B
r
f
+ Bz
f
z
_
=
1
h
_
1
R0q
f
+
f
z
_
1
R0q
_
f
+ q
f
_
in which f = f(x) is any dierentiable scalar function of space. /*
3.25 Give the steps used in obtaining the shear for the screw pinch given in (3.85).
[Hint: First show from (3.25) that = (
ber) (
ber) using the vector

identity (??). Then, show that

ber = (r/h) (r/hR0q)z and use vector
identities (??), (??) and (??) in evaluating the shear .] //*
3.26 Use the magnetostatic Amperes law and Stokes theorem to obtain an expression
for the toroidal current owing inside of a magnetic ux suface in terms of an
integral of the poloidal magnetic eld in the axisymmetric toroidal model. Take
the large aspect ratio tokamak limit of your result and compare it to (3.68). /*
3.27 Use projections of the eld line denition (3.28) to obtain equations for d/d
and d/d along a eld line in the axisymmetric toroidal model. Show that
the ratio of these equations gives the tokamak eld line equation d = q() d.
Integrate the eld line equations to determine general expressions for the length
of a eld line in terms of the toroidal and poloidal angles and traversed by
the eld line: = (, ) and = (, ). Show that in the large aspect ratio
tokamak expansion R
0 = R0 q() and indicate the order of the lowest
order corrections to these results. ///*
3.28 Show that for the axisymmetric toroidal magnetic eld given in (3.27)
b f =
_
B
B
f
+
I
BR
2
f
_
=
I
BR
2
q
_
f
+ q
f
_
in which f = f(x) is any dierentiable function of space. [Hint: Use chain
rule rule dierentiation to write = ()/ + ()/ + ()/.]
Also, show that in the large aspect tokamak expansion this result reduces to the
similar screw pinch limit result obtained in Problem 3.24. //*
DRAFT 22:52
3.29 Work out the general expression for the torsion for an axisymmetric toroidal
conguration given in (3.118). [Hint: First show that for the axisymmetric
toroidal magnetic eld the normal torsion can be written in the form N =
(I/B
2
||
2
) [() ()] using the rst form of (
b )
from the preceding problem, and (??). Next, show using (??) and (??) that
N = (I/B
2
R
2
) (ey ey) = (I/B
2
R
2
) (eyey) in which ey
/|| = (qR||/I)[ ()( )/||
2
]. Finally,
work out the last form of N using (??), (??) and (??).] ///*
3.30 Show that the large aspect ratio tokamak expansion of the general expression
for local torsion yields the result indicated after the in (3.118). //*
3.31 Work out the general expression for the magnetic shear in an axisymmetric
toroidal conguration given in (3.119). [Hint: Use the form of B in (3.100) and
work out B to a form with terms proportional to (q), and .
Next, obtain (B) using (??) and (??). Finally, work out the last form
of (3.25) using the vector identity (??) to rearrange terms and =
B = (B) /.] ///*
3.32 Show that the large aspect ratio tokamak expansion of the general expression
for local shear yields the result indicated after the in (3.119). //*
DRAFT 22:52

Chapter 3. Structure of Magnetic Fields

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CHAPTER 3.

STRUCTURE OF MAGNETIC FIELDS 1

B B is the magnetic eld strength and

b is the local unit

b < 0); conversely, for a decreasing magnetic

is the parallel distance over which the mag-

, sinusoidal (sin) model. (3.6)

/2 in this model, and B B

/. The ratio of the maximum to minimum

b is [see (??) in Section D.6]

b), gradient perpendicular to B, (3.19)

b[ 1. Thus, evaluating the shear denition in

, perpendicular gradient B length L

/R in (3.47) yields the desired magnetic

, for R, [Z[ << L

component vanishes because of the axisymmetry about the earths

, screw pinch model eld. (3.66)

. However, as indicated by the approx-

), toroidal magnetic ux, (3.70)

), poloidal magnetic ux. (3.71)

= 1/r. Thus, the distance along a magnetic eld line over

). By convention, in tokamak plasma analyses the sign of

b within the r = constant

/R in which R is the major radius, it can be written as

= . Thus, using (3.40), the magnetic

sin +O] , tokamak curvature vector. (3.117)

b(x) B(x)/B(x) = B/B, unit vector along B(x). (3.123)

b evaluated at this same point.

b and hence B tensors we

b), curvature vector, (3.129)

b = 0). The zx, zy

b can be written in terms of the x, y components

b (or parallel component of the vorticity

b tensor can be written in

b( 1 + x ln B) lowest order + gradient (B)

bln B), i.e., the curvature vector is approximately equal to the

in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic eld see

= 0), but the functional dependence on remains. Compared to the expan-

/[[, normal () curvature,

, where r is the radius from the center

ln B, as follows from (3.20) for this situation. //

is owing? that is,

)/B in the appropriate denitions

ber) using the vector

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