Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv From: Robert F. Heeter Newsgroups: sci.physics.fusion,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Conventional Fusion FAQ Glossary Part 26/26 (Z) Supersedes: Followup-To: sci.physics.fusion Date: 11 Nov 1999 12:26:47 GMT Organization: Princeton University Lines: 52 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Distribution: world Expires: 23 Feb 2000 12:24:17 GMT Message-ID: References: Reply-To: rfheeter@pppl.gov NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu Summary: Fusion energy represents a promising alternative to fossil fuels and nuclear fission for world energy production. This Glossary is a compendium of Frequently Used Terms in Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Research. Refer to the FAQ on Conventional Fusion for more detailed info about topics in fusion research. This Glossary does NOT discuss unconventional forms of fusion (like Cold Fusion). X-Last-Updated: 1995/02/26 Originator: faqserv@penguin-lust.MIT.EDU Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.physics.fusion:44274 sci.answers:10871 news.answers:170857 Archive-name: fusion-faq/glossary/z Last-modified: 25-Feb-1995 Posting-frequency: More-or-less-quarterly Disclaimer: While this section is still evolving, it should be useful to many people, and I encourage you to distribute it to anyone who might be interested (and willing to help!!!). =============================================================== Glossary Part 26: Terms beginning with "Z" FREQUENTLY USED TERMS IN CONVENTIONAL FUSION RESEARCH AND PLASMA PHYSICS Edited by Robert F. Heeter, rfheeter@pppl.gov Guide to Categories: * = plasma/fusion/energy vocabulary & = basic physics vocabulary > = device type or machine name # = name of a constant or variable ! = scientists @ = acronym % = labs & political organizations $ = unit of measurement The list of Acknowledgements is in Part 0 (intro). ================================================================== ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ # Z: see atomic number @ ZETA: Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly; see entry > Zero Energy Thermonuclear Assembly: A British fusion device in which scientists observed fusion neutrons in 1958. They were erroneously considered to be thermonuclear (coming from particles with a Maxwellian velocity distribution) and were a cause for the initial optimism that fusion energy would be easy. They were actually due to electromagnetic acceleration during a plasma instability, an effect which cannot be scaled up to produce useful energy. > Z-Pinch: Pinch device in which the externally-driven pinching current goes in the z direction (parallel to / through the cylindrical plasma). See discussion in Section 4B. .