Plant Catalogue

The nine canonical fusion plant kinds supported by GaiaFTCL. Each kind has a defined wireframe topology, telemetry operating window, and epistemic classification for each telemetry channel.

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Epistemic Classification

Every telemetry value carries a tag that records how well-established it is.

Tag	Name	Meaning
M	Measured	Derived from direct experimental measurement at an operating facility
T	Tested	Derived from validated simulation or laboratory test
I	Inferred	Derived from physical scaling laws or extrapolation
A	Assumed	Assumed from target design or theoretical prediction

Tags are read-only at runtime. A channel tagged M may not be re-tagged I or A without a Change Control Record.

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Telemetry Channels

Channel	Physical quantity	Units	Colour mapping
I_p	Plasma current	MA (megaamperes)	Blue channel
B_T	Toroidal magnetic field	T (tesla)	Green channel
n_e	Electron density	m⁻³	Red channel

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1. Tokamak

Confinement approach: Axisymmetric toroidal confinement via external TF and PF coils.

Wireframe geometry: Nested torus + PF coil stack + D-shaped TF loops. Minimum 48 vertices, 96 indices.

USDA scope name: Tokamak

Telemetry bounds (NSTX-U baseline):

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	0.85	0.50	2.00	MA	M
B_T	0.52	0.40	1.00	T	M
n_e	3.5×10¹⁹	1×10¹⁹	1×10²⁰	m⁻³	M

Physics constraints:

I_p > 0.5 MA required for ohmic heating
B_T > 0.4 T required for confinement
n_e below 1×10¹⁹ m⁻³ is too thin for confinement; above 1×10²⁰ m⁻³ risks disruption

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2. Stellarator

Confinement approach: 3D twisted torus geometry. No plasma current — confinement is entirely from twisted external coils.

Wireframe geometry: Twisted vessel + modular coil windings. Minimum 48 vertices, 96 indices.

USDA scope name: Stellarator

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	0.00	0.00	0.05	MA	T
B_T	2.50	1.50	3.50	T	M
n_e	2.0×10¹⁹	5×10¹⁸	5×10¹⁹	m⁻³	T

Physics constraints:

I_p > 0.05 MA indicates a configuration error — stellarators do not drive plasma current
High B_T (1.5–3.5 T) is required because there is no plasma current to assist confinement

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3. Spherical Tokamak

Confinement approach: Low aspect ratio tokamak. The plasma is a tight sphere around a dense central solenoid rather than a wide torus.

Wireframe geometry: Cored sphere + dense central solenoid + asymmetric TF coils. Minimum 32 vertices, 64 indices.

USDA scope name: SphericalTokamak

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	1.20	0.80	2.50	MA	M
B_T	0.30	0.20	0.60	T	M
n_e	5.0×10¹⁹	2×10¹⁹	2×10²⁰	m⁻³	M

Physics constraints:

Low aspect ratio allows lower B_T than a conventional tokamak for the same plasma current
Higher I_p than tokamak for the same machine size because the plasma is more compressed

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4. Field-Reversed Configuration (FRC)

Confinement approach: Linear device, no significant toroidal field. The plasma is a self-organized compact torus inside a straight cylinder.

Wireframe geometry: Cylinder + end formation coils + confinement rings. Minimum 24 vertices, 48 indices.

USDA scope name: FRC

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	0.10	0.01	0.50	MA	T
B_T	0.00	0.00	0.10	T	T
n_e	1.0×10²¹	1×10²⁰	1×10²²	m⁻³	I

Physics constraints:

B_T ≈ 0 by definition — FRC is a field-reversed configuration, no toroidal field
Very high density operation; n_e orders of magnitude above tokamak

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5. Mirror

Confinement approach: Open magnetic mirror. End choke coils create regions of high field that reflect escaping particles back into the confinement zone.

Wireframe geometry: Sparse central field rings + dense end choke coils. Minimum 24 vertices, 48 indices.

USDA scope name: Mirror

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	0.05	0.00	0.20	MA	T
B_T	1.00	0.50	3.00	T	M
n_e	5.0×10¹⁸	1×10¹⁸	1×10¹⁹	m⁻³	I

Physics constraints:

Open-ended geometry means lower achievable density than closed confinement
High B_T needed at the mirrors to create the magnetic bottle effect

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6. Spheromak

Confinement approach: Self-organized compact torus formed by a coaxial injector. The plasma contains its own toroidal and poloidal fields without external coils threading the plasma.

Wireframe geometry: Spherical flux conserver + coaxial injector. Minimum 32 vertices, 64 indices.

USDA scope name: Spheromak

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	0.30	0.10	0.80	MA	T
B_T	0.10	0.05	0.30	T	I
n_e	1.0×10²⁰	1×10¹⁹	1×10²¹	m⁻³	I

Physics constraints:

Self-organization means the magnetic field geometry is maintained by the plasma current itself, not external coils
B_T and n_e are inferred values — direct measurement at scale is limited

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7. Z-Pinch

Confinement approach: Pure pinch. A very high axial current (I_p) creates an azimuthal magnetic field that pinches the plasma inward. No external toroidal field.

Wireframe geometry: Cylinder + electrode plates + spoke structure. Minimum 16 vertices, 32 indices.

USDA scope name: ZPinch

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	2.00	0.50	20.0	MA	M
B_T	0.00	0.00	0.05	T	T
n_e	1.0×10²²	1×10²¹	1×10²³	m⁻³	I

Physics constraints:

Requires very high plasma current — highest I_p of all nine plant kinds
B_T ≈ 0 by definition (pinch is produced by the axial current, not an external toroidal coil)
Very high density operation — density is produced by the pinch compression itself

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8. Magneto-Inertial Fusion (MIF)

Confinement approach: Hybrid approach combining magnetic and inertial confinement. Radial plasma jets converge on a magnetized target from multiple Fibonacci-spaced positions.

Wireframe geometry: Icosphere target + radial plasma guns at Fibonacci lattice sites. Minimum 40 vertices, 80 indices.

USDA scope name: MIF

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	0.50	0.10	5.00	MA	T
B_T	0.50	0.10	2.00	T	I
n_e	1.0×10²³	1×10²²	1×10²⁵	m⁻³	A

Physics constraints:

Targets ignition-relevant densities; n_e bounds are assumed from target design parameters
The Fibonacci gun placement is a controlled configuration item — any change requires full PQ-CSE re-execution

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9. Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF)

Confinement approach: Laser-driven implosion. Inward-pointing laser beamlines deliver energy symmetrically to a hohlraum, driving a spherical implosion of the fuel capsule.

Wireframe geometry: Geodesic shell + hohlraum cylinder + inward beamlines. Minimum 40 vertices, 80 indices.

USDA scope name: Inertial

Telemetry bounds:

Channel	Baseline	Min	Max	Unit	Epistemic
I_p	0.00	0.00	0.01	MA	A
B_T	0.00	0.00	0.01	T	A
n_e	1.0×10³¹	1×10³⁰	1×10³²	m⁻³	A

Physics constraints:

ICF uses laser drivers, not magnetic confinement. I_p ≈ 0 and B_T ≈ 0 by definition
Electron density at ignition is extreme — orders of magnitude above all magnetic confinement approaches
The renderer must normalise n_e to [0.0, 1.0] without float overflow for the red channel (PQ-PHY-006)

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Cross-Plant Invariant Rules

These apply to all nine plant kinds at all times.

1. NaN/Inf prohibition — Any NaN or Inf in I_p, B_T, or n_e is an unconditional critical failure. The system must enter REFUSED and halt. Verified by PQ-SAF-002.

2. Negative prohibition — I_p, B_T, and n_e must be ≥ 0.0. Verified by PQ-PHY-007.

3. Colour normalisation — All three values must normalise to [0.0, 1.0] for Metal renderer colour mapping. The raw telemetry value is always logged; only the display value is clamped. Verified by PQ-CSE-008.

4. Epistemic tag preservation — M/T/I/A tags must not change during a render frame or across a plant swap. Verified by PQ-PHY-005.

5. Non-zero geometry — Every plant wireframe must produce vertex_count > 0. Zero-vertex geometry triggers REFUSED. Verified by PQ-CSE-001 and PQ-CSE-007.

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