Editing Magnetic mirror (section)

===1986-===
[[File:Gas Dynamic Trap Overhead.jpg|thumb|alt=The Gas Dynamic Trap in Russia.|The Gas Dynamic Trap in Russia.]]
Magnetic mirror research continued in Russia. One example is the [[Gas Dynamic Trap]], an experimental fusion machine used at the [[Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics]] in [[Akademgorodok]] (Academic Town) in [[Novosibirsk]] (New Siberia), Russia. This machine achieved a 0.6 beta ratio for 5⨉10<sup>−3</sup> seconds, at a low temperature of 1&nbsp;keV. Technical challenges included maintaining the non-Maxwellian velocity distribution. This meant that instead of many high energy ions hitting one another, the ion energy diffused into a bell curve. The ions then thermalized, leaving most of the material too cold to fuse. Collisions scattered the charged particles so much that they could not be contained. Lastly, velocity space instabilities contributed to the escape of the [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]].{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

In September 2022, [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] researchers [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] a spin-off [[startup company]] named ''Realta Fusion'' to develop and commercialize tandem mirror reactors to supply industrial process heat with smaller power plants.<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!-- Unstated --> |date=2023 |url=https://realtafusion.com/ |title=Realta Fusion Inc.: Industrial heat and power from fusion energy |website=Realta Fusion |place=Madison, Wisconsin |access-date=17 February 2024}}</ref> Their stated goal is a "lowest capital, least complex path" to fusion energy.<ref>
{{Cite AV media |last=Furlong |first=Kieran |date=June 29, 2022 |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aulbz5kJNAI |title=Realta Fusion: Breakthrough physics for clean energy generation |publisher=Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite press release |author=<!-- Unstated staff writer --> |date=2021 |url=https://energy.wisc.edu/industry/uw-madison-spinoffs/realta-fusion |title=Realta Fusion |website=Wisconsin Energy Institute, University of Wisconsin, Madison |access-date=23 January 2023}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite news |last=Moe |first=Alex |date=September 19, 2022 |url=https://www.wisbusiness.com/2022/fusion-startup-aims-to-help-offset-greenhouse-gas-emissions/ |title=Fusion startup aims to help offset greenhouse gas emissions |work=WisBusiness.com |access-date=14 February 2023}}</ref> In May 2023, [[United States Department of Energy]] granted the company additional funding.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Brian |date=2023-05-31 |title=Eight Nuclear Fusion Companies Get a Total of $46 Million {{!}} NextBigFuture.com |url=https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/05/eight-nuclear-fusion-companies-get-a-total-of-46-million.html |access-date=2023-06-02 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Magnetic mirrors play an important role in other types of [[magnetic fusion energy]] devices such as [[tokamak]]s, where the [[Toroidal and poloidal|toroidal]] magnetic field is stronger on the inboard side than on the outboard side. The resulting effects are ''neoclassical''. Magnetic mirrors also occur in nature. Electrons and ions in the [[magnetosphere]], for example, will bounce back and forth between the stronger fields at the poles, leading to the [[Van Allen radiation belt]]s.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

Centrifugal magnetic mirrors use supersonic rotation to stabilize the mirrors, which helps heat plasma to fusion temperatures.

could enable commercial nuclear fusion reactors on Earth and are promising for [[space propulsion]]. One concept could achieve 1 to 10 [[Newton (unit)|newtons]] of thrust with 10,000 to 30000 [[specific impulse]], some 30-100x more fuel efficient than chemical propulsion, dramatically decreasing journey times.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Brian |date=2024-11-25 |title=Centrifugal Magnetic Mirror Nuclear Fusion Propulsion {{!}} NextBigFuture.com |url=https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/11/centrifugal-magnetic-mirror-nuclear-fusion-propulsion.html |access-date=2024-12-02 |language=en-US}}</ref>