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Stellarator Theory

It is the aim of stellarator theory to find three-dimensional toroidal magnetic field configurations for plasma confinement suitable for a fusion reactor, and to describe the plasma behavior in such configurations.


Sufficiently good plasma properties resulting from two complementary theoretical descriptions are regarded as necessary for a fusion power plant.

The first one is the magneto-hydrodynamic theory (MHD) describing three-dimensional equilibria and their stability (characterized by a high ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure). The second is the kinetic description of ions and electrons, which should predict good collisional confinement of the thermal plasma and good collisionless confinement of alpha-particles.

Wendelstein 7-X is an essential step towards a stellarator fusion plant and has been optimized theoretically with respect to this properties.

The work of the Stellarator Theory Division is focused on

The aim is both to broaden the general knowledge base of theoretical stellarator and fusion physics, and to provide explicit modeling and planning of experiments in Wendelstein 7-X.

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