Mirror and Open-Field-Line Codes
Open-field-line configurations such as magnetic mirrors need dedicated codes for confinement, end losses, and stability that differ from tokamak tools.
A different topology
A magnetic mirror confines plasma between regions of strong field along an open field line, reflecting particles by the magnetic-mirror force. Because the field lines are open rather than closed, the modeling problem differs fundamentally from a tokamak: end losses, the loss cone in velocity space, and axial force balance take center stage.
What the codes address
- Particle confinement against the velocity-space loss cone
- Axial and radial force balance along the open field line
- End losses and the plugging that reduces them
- Stability against interchange and drift modes in open geometry
Kinetic modeling
Mirror confinement depends on the details of the velocity distribution, particularly which particles fall into the loss cone. Fokker-Planck and kinetic codes are therefore central, evolving the distribution under collisions, heating, and end losses to predict confinement time and the sustaining power balance.
Tandem and multiple-mirror concepts
Advanced mirror concepts add end plugs, electrostatic potentials, or a series of mirror cells to reduce the end losses that limit a simple mirror. Codes for these configurations model the potential structure and the interplay of magnetic and electrostatic confinement, which are the physics that make the concept viable.
Kronos context
The Kronos burner is a deuterium-helium-3 tandem-mirror generator with a high-field plug (26.49 T) and direct energy conversion. Its housings, Aegis for fixed defense installations and MetroVolt for data centers, share this open-field-line physics, so mirror-class modeling of confinement, plugging, and end losses is the relevant toolset rather than tokamak equilibrium codes.
As with all Kronos machines, the burner is design and simulation work; modeling establishes the physics case rather than claiming built performance.