Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2009
The problem of controlling the position and cross-sectional shape of plasmas is addressed for circumstances relevant to large tokamaks. A principle for, as well as a practical method of analysis of, this control problem is presented. The relevant elements of the tokamak system included in the analysis are the plasma, a resistive wall (vacuum chamber wall) surrounding the plasma, toroidally wound coils which also surround the plasma, as well as their associated external circuitry and a number of monitors of properties of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the plasma; the signals obtained from these monitors are used for control of power supplies which are part of the external circuits.