MHD-stabilization of finite-β multiple-mirror plasmas

A co-axial gun source injects a plasma of 1–10% β into a series of mirror cells. When the linked-quadrupole minimum – |B| magnetic mirrors are used, the plasma appears to be MHD-stable with smooth decays of ~ 100 μs. In contrast, for the simple mirror configuration, the plasma is rapidly lost, suggesting that MHD-instability is present.