Space Magnetism May Hold Secret to Fusion Power

Hi,

this is a bit misleading. (And some hot magnetic colored air to fetch publicity).

There is no process to create new field lines in an existing magnetic field else if the generating "dynamo" is tuned up.

What is described here is a redistribution of field lines in a situation when the existing magnetic field contains more magnetic energy than is stable. This is like a very high and thin beam will be unstable (buckling) if high enough.

So in a magnetic field the field lines can switch over to another configuration with less stored energy. The field lines will change shape, will be cut-open and refused to a new geometry immediately.

What is not clear in the article is: what form takes the excess energy that is liberated.

The statement: "the plasma particles normally follow the paths of the magnetic field lines" is insufficient to explain the behaviour.

If there is a bunch of magnetic field lines and a charged particle is moving parallel then there will be no force.

If there is a velocity component perpendicular to the field line there will be the Lorentz force that is bending the path of the particle to a spiraling motion if the velocity is not too high. This spiraling around the field lines with the parallel component of the velocity unchanged is giving the net effect that there is a (spiraling) motion along the field lines.

If the field lines diverge there will be an increase of the spirals radius and at some radius the magnetic field is no longer capable of bending the path to a spiral so the particle is "lost" from the magnetic enclosure.

If the magnetic field lines converge (as on North- and South-pole of our earth and any other magnet) the charged particles will be mirrored at the poles and travel back and forth between the poles. This effect is known as Alfven waves named after its first scientific investigator from Sweden and known to radio communication engineers as producing periodic fading of transmitted signals.

Since the first times of MHD (magneto-hydrodynamic) generators intended to extract electric energy from streaming plasmas and since the first magnetic enclosures intended for fusion research (Tokamak family) the principles are well known. But the reality of plasma stabilisation is proving much more difficult (from theory to technical solution).

The JET machine solved this problem first and had a fusion plasma burning. (And is so activated with radioactivity from around 1 second burning that it will be never more allowed to be inspected by humans from nearby!)

The ITER machine now under construction will be a next step.

Wait and see the results.

RHABE