Parameters of a possible FRC adiabatic compression experiment

An experiment is described that would address the following research goals for field-reversed configurations (FRC). (a) Test FRC stability with a number of ion gyroradii relative to the plasma radius substantially greater than in present experiments. (b) Increase the electron temperature sufficiently to test the physics of electron energy confinement and of trapped-flux losses. (c) Improve confinement while remaining in a density regime (n less than or equal to 5 x 10/sup 15/ cm/sup -3/) most likely to be relevant to fusion power production.