Spheromak formation and sustainment by tangential boundary flows

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates through numerical simulations that a spheromak can be formed and sustained by applying tangential boundary flows, offering a novel approach based on helicity injection distinct from previous methods.

Contribution

It introduces a new boundary flow technique for spheromak formation and sustainment, expanding the understanding of helicity injection methods in plasma physics.

Findings

Spheromak can be formed using tangential boundary flows

The method differs from traditional helicity injection techniques

Features observed align with previous experimental results

Abstract

The nonlinear, resistive, 3D magnetohydrodynamic equations are solved numerically to demonstrate the possibility of forming and sustaining a spheromak by forcing tangential flows at the plasma boundary. The method can by explained in terms of helicity injection and differs from other helicity injection methods employed in the past. Several features which were also observed in previous dc helicity injection experiments are identified and discussed.