The superiority of dipole plasmas lies in a phenomenon called the turbulent pinch, whereby convective cells drive peaked pressures, rather than dispersing them. This leads to scalable physics, with fewer things to go wrong or control.
The stability of dipole plasma is based on the most fundamental principle of physics: entropy. As the energy in the plasma increases, so does the entropy. Unlike other fusion concepts where entropy destabilises the plasma, the turbulent pinch in dipole plasmas keeps them stable as they are heated to fusion temperatures.
Turbulent pinch is beautifully simple. As a result, the plasmas are easy to control and be confined by the superconducting magnets. This reduces the need for complexity, even as they are heated and scaled to fusion temperatures.
Turbulent pinch gives rise to plasma pressures far in excess of the magnetic pressures being used to confine them. This surprising property makes achieving fusion pressures easier, and possible with smaller magnets. These reactors need less superconducting wire, resulting in cheaper magnets. This not only reduces the cost of each reactor, but dramatically improves how many reactors can be deployed per year in the race to decarbonise the grid and combat climate change.
Fusion reactors are not magic, and like anything that burns fuel, their performance boils down to three questions:
The dipole is the only magnetoconfinement approach that holds onto heat for longer than it holds onto ash. This critical and often overlooked property means dipoles can be designed to burn advanced fuels. This is a critical step in solving the neutronics problem in fusion.
