In
magnetic confinement fusion
Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, along with i ...
the zonal direction primarily connotes the
poloidal
The terms toroidal and poloidal refer to directions relative to a torus of reference. They describe a three-dimensional coordinate system in which the poloidal direction follows a small circular ring around the surface, while the toroidal direct ...
direction (i.e. the short way around the
torus
In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle.
If the axis of revolution does not tou ...
), the corresponding coordinate being denoted by ''y'' in the slab approximation or ''θ'' in magnetic coordinates. However, in the fusion context, usage is restricted to the context of
zonal plasma flows and there will in general be a
toroidal component in such flows as well. Thus, although the term zonal has come into use in plasma physics to emphasize an analogy with
zonal flows in geophysics, it does not uniquely identify the direction of flow, unlike the case in geophysics.
See also
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Toroidal and poloidal
Toroidal describes something which resembles or relates to a torus or toroid:
Mathematics
*Torus
*Toroid, a surface of revolution which resembles a torus
*Toroidal polyhedron
*Toroidal coordinates, a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system ...
*
Zonal and meridional
Zonal and meridional flow are directions and regions of fluid flow on a globe.
Zonal flow follows a pattern along latitudinal lines, latitudinal circles or in the west–east direction.
Meridional flow follows a pattern from north to south ...
*
Zonal flow (plasma) In toroidally confined fusion plasma experiments the term zonal flow means a plasma flow within a magnetic surface primarily in the poloidal direction. This usage is inspired by the analogy between the quasi-two-dimensional nature of large-scale a ...
*
Zonal flow Zonal can refer to:
* Zonal and meridional, directions on a globe, west–east and north–south, respectively.
* Zonal and poloidal, directions in a toroidal magnetically confined plasma
* Zonal polynomial, a symmetric multivariate polynomial
* Zo ...
Orientation (geometry)
Magnetic confinement fusion
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