Plasma physics and fusion energy

Abstract

A review on the equilibrium problem in magnetic confinement fusion plasmas is presented here. We first introduce the motivations to keep researching in fusion plasma physics, and the current state of actual fusion experiments. Afterwards, we briefly discuss the magnetohydrodinamics (MHD) equilibrium model and the resulting Grad-Shafranov equation. The equilibrium problem is solved by means of a MATLAB code that constructs approximated analytical solutions for a variety of geometries and conditions consistent with actual fusion experiments. The solution provides some physical quantities of interest that we analyze. Then, the equilibrium is also found for Taylor states with another MATLAB code, and a not so deep analysis is done.