Onsager symmetry of transport in toroidal plasmas

Abstract

Complete theories of transport contain thermodynamic cross terms, such as a particle flux driven by the temperature gradient. The matrix that relates the forces that drive the transport to the fluxes was shown to be symmetric by Onsager but with the choice of the forces and the fluxes rigidly constrained by thermodynamics. Those constraints for toroidal plasmas are derived and the implications are explored.