Spheromarks

    Spheromaks are easily formed, self-organized magnetized plasma configurations that have intrigued plasma physicists for over two decades. Sometimes called magnetic vortices, magnetic smoke rings, or plasmoids, spheromaks first attracted attention as a possible controlled thermonuclear plasma confinement scheme, but are now known to have many other applications.
This book begins with a review of the basic concepts of magnetohydrodynamics and toroidal magnetic configurations, then provides a detailed exposition of the 3D topological concepts underlying spheromak physics, namely magnetic helicity, Taylor relaxation, force-free equilibria, and tilt stability. It then examines spheromak formation techniques, driven and isolated configurations, dynamo concepts, practical experimental issues, diagnostics, and a number of applications. The book concludes by showing how spheromak ideas are closely related to the physics of solar prominences and interplanetary magnetic clouds.

Preface
1 Introduction
2 Basic Concepts
3 Magnetic Helicity
4 Relaxation of an Isolated Configuration to the Taylor State
5 Relaxation in Driven Configurations
6 The MHD Energy Principle, Helicity, and Taylor States
7 Survey of Spheromak Formation Schemes
8 Classification of Regimes: An Imperfect Analogy to Thermodynamics
9 Analysis of Isolated Cylindrical Spheromaks
10 The Role of the Wall
11 Analysis of Driven Spheromaks: Strong Coupling
12 Helicity Flow and Dynamos
13 Confinement and Transport in Spheromaks
14 Some Important Practical Issues
15 Basic Diagnostics for Spheromaks
16 Applications of Spheromaks
17 Solar and Space Phenomena Related to Spheromaks
References
Appendix A:Vector Identities and Operators
Appendix B:Bessel Orthogonality Relations
Appendix C:Capacitor Banks
Appendix D:Selected Formulae
Index