Open-ended magnetic confinement systems for fusion

Magnetic confinement systems that use externally generated magnetic fields can be divided topologically into two classes: ''closed'' and ''open''. The tokamak, the stellarator, and the reversed-field-pinch approaches are representatives of the first category, while mirror-based systems and their variants are of the second category. While the recent thrust of magnetic fusion research, with its emphasis on the tokamak, has been concentrated on closed geometry, there are significant reasons for the continued pursuit of research into open-ended systems. The paper discusses these reasons, reviews the history and the present status of open-ended systems, and suggests some future directions for the research.