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Glossary
Ambipolar Potential
An electrostatic potential in a tandem mirror that plugs ion end-losses.
In a tandem mirror, dense high-field plugs at each end build up an electrostatic potential that repels ions trying to escape from the central cell — an 'ambipolar' plug that confines ions electrostatically rather than only magnetically.
Establishing this potential requires the plug to reach a density well above the central cell — the burner's plug-density requirement of about np/nc = 16.