It is hoped that by eventually obtaining a complete spectrum of these fluctuations meaningful comparisons between experiment and theory can be made. Probes are used to study fluctuations in the edge region while microwave reflectometry is used to study the interior regions of the plasma. The University of Saskatchewan Compact Torus Injector is the first-ever effort to investigate spheromak injection into a tokamak with variable injection angles. The main objectives of the project is to study the magnetic reconnection between the injected spheromak and the target tokamak discharge. Recent work has centred around understanding the mechanism of energy transfer between radio frequency fields and ions in a magnetic field-free environment.
Experiments are also underway to study chaotic oscillations in a space charge sheath.
Observation of radio-frequency ion heating in a double plasma device, L. Schott, Phys. The Plasma Physics Laboratory has established an international reputation for theoretical work related to instabilities and transport in tokamaks using kinetic theory. Theoretical work is also carried out on fusion reactor ignition conditions and basic plasma physics. Higher order collisionless ballooning mode in tokamaks, A. Hirose, L. Zhang, M. Elia, Phys. Plasma turbulent bremsstrahlung, O. Ishihara, A. Hirose, Phys.