Observation of velocity-independent electron transport in the reversed field pinch

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Jul 25;91(4):045002. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.045002. Epub 2003 Jul 24.

Abstract

Confinement of runaway electrons has been observed for the first time in a reversed field pinch during improved-confinement plasmas in the Madison Symmetric Torus. Energy-resolved hard-x-ray flux measurements have been used to determine the velocity dependence of the electron diffusion coefficient, utilizing computational solutions of the Fokker-Planck transport equation. With improved-confinement, the fast electron diffusivity drops by 2 orders of magnitude and is independent of velocity. This suggests a change in the transport mechanism away from stochastic magnetic field diffusion.