Geodesic mode instability driven by the electron current in tokamak plasmas

Effect of the parallel electron current on Geodesic Acoustic Modes (GAM) in a tokamak is analyzed by kinetic theory taking into the account the ion Landau damping and diamagnetic drifts. It is shown that the electron current modeled by shifted Maxwell distribution may overcome the phase velocity threshold and ion Landau damping thus resulting in the GAM instability when the parallel electron current velocity is larger than the effective parallel GAM phase velocity Rqω. The instability occurs due to its cross term of the current with the ion diamagnetic drift. Possible applications to tokamak experiments are discussed.     

Ion larmour radius effect on rf ponderomotive forces and induced poloidal flow in tokamak plasmas

Analytical approximations are used to clarify the effect of Larmour radius on rf ponderomotive forces and on poloidal flows induced by them in tokamak plasmas. The electromagnetic force is expressed as a sum of a gradient part and of a wave momentum transfer force, which is proportional to wave dissipation. The first part, called the gradient electromagnetic stress force, is combined with fluid dynamic (Reynolds) stress force, and gyroviscosity is included into viscosity force to model finite ion Larmour radius effects in the momentum response to the rf fields in plasmas. The expressions for the relative magnitude of different forces for kinetic Alfven waves and fast waves are derived.     

Short wavelength temperature gradient driven modes in tokamak plasmas

New unstable temperature gradient driven modes in an inhomogeneous tokamak plasma are identified. These modes represent temperature gradient (ion and electron) driven modes destabilized in the short wavelength regions with k( perpendicular )rho(i,e)>1, respectively. The instability occurs due to a specific plasma response that significantly deviates from Boltzmann distribution in the regions k( perpendicular )rho(i,e)>1.     

Geodesic mode spectrum modified by the energetic particles in tokamak plasmas

Effect of a minor concentration of the energetic particles on GAM spectrum in a tokamak is analyzed by drift kinetic theory taking into the account the electron current and diamagnetic drift. A novel method of Jacobi functions is applied to solve the drift kinetic equation for the energetic bounce particles in the limit of high bounce frequency in comparison with the GAM frequency. Using the Q-asymptotic of Jacobi function, it is shown that the energetic minority ions can form the continuum minimum/maximum at the NB or ICR power deposition maximum where the geodesic eigenmode may be excited. In this case, the electron current modeled by shifted Maxwell distribution overcomes the ion Landau damping threshold thus resulting in the GAM instability.     

Modeling of O-X-B conversion of electromagnetic radiation in tokamak plasmas

Linear conversion of the ordinary wave to the extraordinary wave and then to the Bernstein wave (O-X-B conversion) in a tokamak plasma is considered in the generalized geometric-optical approximation taking into account the relativistic effects in a dielectric permitivity tensor. Using the T-10 tokamak as an example, it is shown that even for a relatively low plasma temperature (about 1 keV at the plasma-column center) relativistic effects exert a notable influence on the cyclotron absorption of Bernstein waves. Power deposition profiles for O-X-B plasma heating are determined. The emission of spontaneously excited Bernstein waves resulting from the B-X-O conversion are considered. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 49, No. 8, pp. 686–703, August 2006.     

Change of zonal flow spectra in the JIPP T-IIU tokamak plasmas

When Ohmically heated low-density plasmas are additionally heated by higher-harmonics ion-cyclotron-range-of frequency heating, heated by neutral beam injection, or strongly gas puffed, the intensity of zonal flows in the geodesic acoustic mode frequency range in the tokamak core plasma decreases sharply and that of low-frequency zonal flow grows drastically. This is accompanied by a damping of the drift wave propagating in the electron diamagnetic drift direction, turbulence by trapped electron mode (TEM), and the increase of the mode propagating to ion diamagnetic drift direction (ITG). In the half-radius region, TEM and high-frequency zonal flows remain intense in both OH and heated phases. ITG and low-frequency zonal flows grow in heated plasmas, suggesting a strong coupling between ITG and low-frequency zonal flow.     

Trapped electron mode turbulence driven intrinsic rotation in Tokamak plasmas

Progress from global gyrokinetic simulations in understanding the origin of intrinsic rotation in toroidal plasmas is reported. The turbulence-driven intrinsic torque associated with nonlinear residual stress generation due to zonal flow shear induced asymmetry in the parallel wave number spectrum is shown to scale close to linearly with plasma gradients and the inverse of the plasma current, qualitatively reproducing experimental empirical scalings of intrinsic rotation. The origin of current scaling is found to be enhanced k(∥) symmetry breaking induced by the increased radial variation of the safety factor as the current decreases. The intrinsic torque is proportional to the pressure gradient because both turbulence intensity and zonal flow shear, which are two key ingredients for driving residual stress, increase with turbulence drive, which is R/L(T(e)) and R/L(n(e)) for the trapped electron mode.     

Heating by an electron Bernstein wave in a spherical tokamak plasma via mode conversion

The first successful high power heating of a high dielectric constant spherical tokamak plasma by an electron Bernstein wave (EBW) is reported. An EBW was excited by mode conversion (MC) of an mode cyclotron wave injected from the low magnetic field side of the TST-2 spherical tokamak. Evidence of electron heating was observed as increases in the stored energy and soft x-ray emission. The increased emission was concentrated in the plasma core region. A heating efficiency of over 50% was achieved, when the density gradient in the MC region was sufficiently steep.     

Streamers in the JIPP T-llU tokamak plasmas

It is shown that the low-density Ohmically heated tokamak plasmas have streamerlike eddies at the outer region at normalized minor radius of about 0.7 and high-frequency zonal flows of large amplitudes in the core. The amplitudes of the eddies ePhi/kT(e) and n(e)/n(e) are of order of 0.5, similar to that of blobs in the tokamak plasma boundary. The waveforms are featured by pulses of complex shape with sharp fronts, similar to the results of streamer simulations by Garbet et al.. The time constant of the fronts is also in agreement with the simulation. The radial span of the eddies is estimated to be much larger than the poloidal span.     

Resonance of static-error-field amplification in tokamak plasmas

With explicit torque expression derived, it is found that the resonance of the static-error-field amplification (i.e., the maximum of the static-error-field-induced torque) in tokamak plasmas lies at the no-wall stability limit, instead of at the resistive wall mode stability limit as given by the existing theories. This brings theoretical predictions into qualitative conformity with experiments.     

Sheared flow of electrons and ions introduces new drift-type modes and instabilities in plasmas with stationary dust

The flow of electrons and ions with the same sheared velocity introduces new type of electrostatic drift waves and instabilities due to non-uniform zero-order current in plasmas having stationary dust. One of the modes is flute-like and the other also includes ions motion parallel to the background magnetic field. This investigation has applications in the phenomena of solar wind interaction with the dusty plasmas of planets and comets.     

Adiabatic electron thermal pressure fluctuations in tokamak plasmas

Electron thermal pressure fluctuations measured in the edge plasma of the Texas Experimental Tokamak Upgrade are a fundamental component of plasma turbulence on both sides of the velocity shear layer. The ratio of specific heats, estimated from fluctuations in electron temperature and electron number density measured simultaneously at the same electrode, indicates that observed fluctuations are adiabatic. The observations are made by means of a novel Langmuir probe technique, the time domain triple-probe method, which concurrently measures multiple plasma properties at each of two electrodes with the temporal and the spatial resolution required to estimate thermodynamic properties in a turbulent plasma.