Reply To: Energy Policy in Chile – Economist Article

[AaronB]

MTd2 wrote: 1.Won’t the realignment of filaments waste a lot of energy? Why?

Filaments can realign very easily since they are just a flow of electrons. If you watch a plasma ball in action, you’ll see filaments suddenly appear, merge easily with other filaments, and disappear instantly. The transition doesn’t take much effort. It only requires an easier path, and the electrons will naturally flow that way. Magnetic fields guide the flow and provide a kind of inertia that tempers the rate of change.

2.How many electrons are lost in the process?

I don’t know. I’ve never counted them. Some energy could be lost by light emission or heating of the gas, but there’s no way around that. The best you can do is to recapture it somewhere else or use those effects to your advantage.

3.How can one show that the toroid is the most stable state?

It’s sort of a circular argument. The filaments form a toroid shape because it is the most stable form, and it can be demonstrated that it’s the most stable form because it’s the shape that the filaments naturally go into. More technically, the axial z-pinch forces from the circulating current and the azimuthal theta-pinch forces work in harmony to create and compress a stable, self-sustaining environment (minus leakage) that can persist for a relatively long time, much longer than a simple spark. If someone else has a better explanation, feel free to jump in.