Double-beam interferometry method for investigating axisymmetric configurations of dense plasma

The limits of applicability of double-beam interferometry in investigations of hightemperature plasma are considered. An analysis is made of the techniques for calculating interferograms of axisymmetric objects with steep density gradients by the Abel integral method. It is shown that the calculation methods used so far, based on the linear approximation of the required function, may lead to large errors. A parabolic approximation method is suggested and the relevant coefficients are calculated. The optimal number of inhomogeneity zones in an exponential distribution of the density is obtained. It is shown that the proposed method reduces considerably the volume of the computations and increases the precision of the calculations.