The Third Topical Conference on Pulsed High-Beta (β) Plasmas took place at Culham Laboratory (United Kingdom) from September 9 to 12 197 5. Approximately one hundred papers were read, covering theta-pinches, high-beta stellarators, reversed-field pinches, screw-pinches, high-beta tokamaks, plasma focus and related theory. Welcoming the delegates, the Director of Culham Laboratory (Dr Pease) stressed the quadratic dependence of the nuclear power density on β and the consequential advantage of high β. He also directed attention at the possible stabilizing influence of high β on drift-wave modes and at the importance of finding hydromagnetically stable high-β toroidal equilibria. He doubted the long-term value of basically unstable toroidal systems relying on feedback dynamic or finite-Larmor radius effects for satisfactory operation.
Stationary toroidal equilibria at finite beta