Snake instability in the plasma of the Globus-M spherical tokamak

Experiments with the limiting density of a plasma generated in the Globus-M spherical tokamak operating in the ohmic heating regime show that, when the plasma density reaches a certain value at the center of the plasma filament, snake-type strong magnetohydrodynamic instability exciting the m/n = 1/1 mode arises. A further rise in the density causes an internal disruption of the plasma. Numerical simulation of the instability dynamics is performed, and the results of simulation are compared with experimental and theoretical data. Experimental and theoretical data are in good agreement. It is shown that the instability is associated with an increased amount of impurities in the plasma and that the limit in density is of a “technological,” rather than of a fundamental, character. With the vacuum chamber cleaned more thoroughly, this limit disappears and the snake instability is not observed. Accordingly, a plasma filament density of 1 × 10^{20 m?3} was attained with a Greenwald number as high as 95%.     

X-ray backlighting of two-wire Z-pinch plasma using X-pinch

Two 50-μm Mo wires in parallel used as a Z-pinch load are electrically exploded with a pulsed current rising to 275 kA in 125 ns and their explosion processes are backlighted using an X-pinch as an x-ray source.The backlighting images show clearly the processes similar to those occurring in the initial stages of a cylindrical wire-array Z-pinch,including the electric explosion of single wires characterised by the dense wire cores surrounded by a low-density coronal plasma,the expansion of the exploding wire,the sausage instability (m=0) in the coronal plasma around each wire,the motion of the coronal plasma as well as the wire core toward the current centroid,the formation of the precursor plasma column with a twist structure something like that of higher mode instability,especially the kink instability (m=1).     

Nonlinear analysis of a surface-helical instability of a semiconducting plasma. II

We give the results of a numerical calculation of nonlinear effects of surface-helical instability of an electron-hole plasma, based on the theory, developed earlier, for the case of equal mobilitiesμ _e =μ _h =μ. The amplitudes of the helical waves, the nonlinear diminution of the current, and the frequency shift for the mode ¦ m ¦ = 1, k = (4/3)^1/2 is calculated as a function of the cutoff magnetic field B in the range 0<μB < 3.     

Return current instability and its effects on beam-plasma system

The return current induced in a plasma by a relativisitc electron beam generates a new electron-ion two-stream instability (return current instability). Although the effect of these currents on the beam-plasma e-e instability is negligible, there exists a range of wave numbers which is unstable only to return current (RC) instability and not to e-e instability. The electromagnetic waves propagating along the direction of the external magnetic field, in which the plasma is immersed, are stabilized by these currents but the e.m. waves with frequencies,ω ²≪Ω _e ² ≪ω _pe ² (Ω _e andω _pe being cyclotron and plasma frequency for the electrons of the plasma respectively) propagating transverse to the magnetic field get destabilized. Heuristic estimates of plasma heating, due to RC instability and due to decay of ion-acoustic turbulence generated by the return current, are made. The fastest time scale on which the return current delivers energy to the plasma due to the scattering of ion-sound waves by the electrons can be ∼ω _pi ⁻¹ (ω _pi being the plasma frequency for the ions).     

The effect of the plasma density gradient on current filamentation instability

The filamentation instability is one of the basic beam-plasma instabilities that play a significant role in the energy deposition mechanism of the relativistic electrons generated by the laser-plasma interaction in the fast ignition scenario. In this paper, the effect of the density gradient into plasma on the filamentation instability was investigated in the Weibel unstable plasma, where the plasma temperature anisotropy can play an important role. Results indicated that the density gradient enhances the instability growth rate so that decreasing the density gradient from the critical surface to the core of fuel leads to instability for longer regions in k space. Also, investigations in the region close to the critical surface showed that for decreasing the beam number density n_b ≤ 0.01n₀, the instability occurs for while this can be different for higher values. Increasing the beam relativistic factor causes a decreasing peak of instability growth rate because of a reduction in beam current, whereas the initial thermal spread of plasma amplifies the filamentation instability.     

Identification of m=2 competent mode of complex magneto-hydro-dynamics activities during internal soft disruption based on singular value decomposition and tomography of soft-X-ray emission on the HT-7 tokamak

In this paper,the singular value decomposition(SVD) method as a filter is applied before the tomographic inversion of soft-X-ray emission.Series of ’filtered’ signals including specific chronos and topos are obtained.(Here,chronos and topos are the decomposed spatial vectors and the decomposed temporal vectors,respectively).Given specific magnetic flux function with coupling m = 1 and m = 2 modes,the line-integrated soft-X-ray signals at all chords have been obtained.Then m = 1 and m = 2 modes have been identified by tomography of simulated ’filtered’ signals extracted by the SVD method.Finaly,using the experimental line-integrated soft-X-ray signals,m = 2 competent mode of complex magnetohydrodynamics(MHD) activities during internal soft disruption is observed.This result demonstrates that m = 2 mode plays an important role in internal disruption(Here,m is the poloidal mode number).     

Quasicoherent oscillations induced by nonthermal electrons during magnetic reconnection in the T-10 tokamak

Small-scale quasicoherent oscillations of the x-ray emissivity and magnetic field perturbations are observed in the T-10 tokamak during abrupt growth of the m=2, n=1 magnetohydrodynamic modes at the density limit disruption. Analysis indicates a possible link between the small-scale oscillations and nonthermal electron beams induced around the X points of the m=2, n=1 magnetic island during reconnection of magnetic field lines at the disruption instability.     

Observations of an ion-driven instability in non-neutral plasmas confined on magnetic surfaces

The first detailed experimental study of an instability driven by the presence of a finite ion fraction in an electron-rich non-neutral plasma confined on magnetic surfaces is presented. The instability has a poloidal mode number m=1, implying that the parallel force balance of the electron fluid is broken and that the instability involves rotation of the entire plasma, equivalent to ion-resonant instabilities in Penning traps and toroidal field traps. The mode appears when the ion density exceeds approximately 10% of the electron density. The measured frequency decreases with increasing magnetic field strength, and increases with increasing radial electric field, showing that the instability is linked to the E x B flow of the electron plasma. The frequency does not, however, scale exactly with E/B, and it depends on the ion species that is introduced, implying that the instability consists of interacting perturbations of ions and electrons.     

热电子对低频等离子体漂移波的稳定作用

本文用磁流体理论导出了热电子等离子体中,等离子体密度梯度驱动的低频漂移波的色散关系,分析了热电子的稳定作用。热电子成分稳定等离子体低频扰动的物理机制是charge uncovering效应,它只依赖于热电子同等离子体的密度比α,而不依赖于热电子的β值。热电子能降低等离子体交换模和漂移波的增长率,减少漂移波引起的等离子体反常输运损失。稳定等离子体交换模要求α≈2％,稳定等离子体漂移波要求α≈40％。理论上预示了在热电子等离子体中,等离子体漂移波是最重要的低频不稳定性。 关键词：     

Evolution of local ideal helical perturbations in cylindrical plasma

The evolution of a local helical perturbation and its stability property for arbitrary magnetic shear configurations are investigated for the case of in cylindrical geometry. An analytic stability criterion has been obtained which predicts that a strong magnetic shear will enhance the instability in the positive shear region but enhance the stability in the negative shear region. The perturbations with the poloidal and toroidal perturbation mode numbers m/n=1/1 is most unstable due to the stabilizing terms increasing with m. For m/n=1/1 local perturbations in the conventional positive magnetic shear (PMS) configurations, a larger q_{min} exhibits a weaker shear in the core and is favourable to the stability, while in the reversed magnetic shear (RMS) configurations, a larger q_0 corresponds to a stronger positive shear in the middle region, which enhances the instability. No instabilities are found for m≥2 local perturbations. The stability for RMS configuration is not better than that for PMS configuration.     

自由边界载流等离子体柱的电阻螺旋模不稳定性的数值计算

本文采用两步隐式差分格式研究了自由边界载流等离子体柱的电阻螺旋模不稳定性。发现等离子体温度剖面越宽和越高,m=2的撕裂模的线性稳定就越好。计算结果与实验相符合。     

Gravitational Instability of a Thermally Conducting Plasma in an Oblique Magnetic Field

The combined influence of the effects of Hall currents, magnetic resistivity and viscosity have been studied on the gravitational instability of a thermally conducting homogeneous unbounded plasma in an oblique magnetic field. The solution has been obtained through the normal mode technique and the dispersion relation has been derived. It is shown that the Jeans' criterion for gravitational instability remains unchanged. Solving numerically the dispersion relation, the dependence of the growth rate of the gravitational unstable mode on the considered physical effects has been obtained for an astrophysical situation. For conditions prevailing in the magnetized collapsing clouds, the numerical calculations for the plot of growth rate against wave number has been obtained for several values of the parameters characterizing Hall currents magnetic resistivity viscosity thermal conductivity. It is found that magnetic resistivity and thermal conductivity have destabilizing influence while viscosity has stabilizing influence on the instability of the plasma of disturbance m(ϱ) = 9 × 10⁻³ kg.     

Observation of Molybdenum Emission from Impurity-Induced Long-Lived m=1 Mode on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak

We observe the spectra of molybdenum for the first time since the first wall of our experimental advanced superconducting tokamak(EAST) was changed mainly to molybdenum tiles.A large amount of molybdenum accumulated in the central plasma where the Jong-Jived m = 1 mode instability bursts is shown.Molybdenum is proved to be the main impurity species observed during the formation and lifetime of impurity-induced long-lived m = 1 mode.This may indicate that a close relationship exists between the high-Z impurity accumulation and the occurrence of long-lived m = 1 mode in EAST plasmas.     

托卡马克中宏观束-等离子体扭曲模不稳定性研究

本文主要研究了具有单一高能离子分量的托卡马克等离子体扭曲模宏观不稳定性。它基本上模拟了中性束平行注入经过电离和电荷交换后在本底等离子体中维持一个稳恒等离子体流的物理过程。高能和本底都用无碰撞的Vlasov等离子体,并取了低频、小拉莫尔半径极限。由于主要考虑束-等离子体无耗散宏观不稳定性,故可用能量原理来分析。结果表明,高能离子束对本底等离子体的外部模没有影响,只影响内部扭曲模的增长率和扰动振幅。对适当选择的速度剖面,束能够完全稳定体系n≥2,m=1模,与Dunlap线性理论结果相反而与目前实验观测一致。m/n=1/1内部扭曲模增长率在所取得模型下随注入能量β_b,注入功率P_bw,轴上安全因子q(0)和束速度的径向剖面分布参数S的不同而出现增稳、减稳及完全稳定的行为。适当选择S,在q(0)<0.924时,高能束能够稳定m/n=1/1模。 关键词：     

HL-1M装置锁模不稳定性研究

研究了HL－1M装置上锁模不稳定性和密度极限破裂。锁模不稳定性通常出现在低密度的实验中,在软X射线和Mirnov磁扰动上都观察到了频率相同的先兆振荡,其时间尺度为10ms。边3比温度的然下降是产生模不稳定性的重要标志。锁械出现几毫秒后时常发生大破裂。提出了抑制锁械的稳定性的建议。     

Gradient Driven Azimuthal Ion Acoustic Waves

An instability of a magnetized plasma column in the frequency range has been identified as an ion acoustic one. The waves are azimuthally driven by the electron diamagnetic velocity due to the radial gradient of a fast electron tail. The strongest peaks in the frequency spectrum correspond to m = 6 or 8 wave lengths on one turn. This selection can be explained as an optimum value between increasing growth rate and the resonance disturbing phase mismatch at higher mode numbers.     

HL-1装置掠入射真空紫外杂质谱线观测

本文叙述用掠入射谱仪在HL-1装置上所做的真空紫外光谱测量。根据杂质谱线的相对强度变化,说明可动石墨孔栏和蒸钛技术对控制等离子体杂质有一定效果。通过分析谱线、软X射线和m=2模式信号扰动之间的关系,指出杂质对等离子体不稳定性的影响。     

Experimental Evidence of Parametric Instabilities in an Unmagnetized Plasma Subjected to a Strong H.F. Electric Field

Experimental evidence of parametric excitation, by an intense external H.F. field, of an electron surface mode and an ion wave is presented. The pumping electromagnetic energy density is equal to or slightly larger than the thermal energy density of the electrons. The value of f_pc/f₀ (electron plasma frequency/external field frequency) is that for an electron surface wave. Depending on the pressure and field intensity, this decay instability can lead to three types of low frequency oscillations, with frequencies close to the ion plasma frequency. Two of these are described by Aliev and Silin's intense field theory: one is the volume ion plasma oscillation and the other a surface ion plasma oscillation. The third corresponds to no known ion eigenmode. Several other features of the theory by Aliev and co-workers are also confirmed experimentally, such as the harmonic excitation of the instability (nf₀ ≈ f_pe/√2, where n is an integer), the instability amplitude as a function of f_pe/f₀ (above threshold conditions), the value of the mismatch parameter as a function of field strength and ion mass, and the existence of a fine structure corresponding to the symmetric and antisymmetric electron surface oscillations. Even at high pump field strengths, the decay products are nearly monochromatic i.e. the plasma does not become turbulent.     

m=±1 and m=±2 mode helicon wave excitation

The characteristics of plasma produced by plane polarized m=±1 and m=±2 mode helicon waves were investigated for the first time. Plane polarized m=±1 and m=±2 mode helicon waves were mainly excited using a Nagoya type III antenna and a quadrupole antenna, respectively. Two-dimensional cross-field measurements of ArII optical emission induced by hot electrons were made to investigate the RF power deposition. The components of the wave magnetic field measured with a magnetic probe were compared with the field profiles computed for the m=±1 and m=±2 modes. Two and four high intensity plasma columns were observed for the m=±1 and m=±2modes, respectively. These columns were located at the regions between the antenna legs. The radial profiles of the wave magnetic field were in good agreement with computations     

Onset and saturation of the kink instability in a current-carrying line-tied plasma

An internal kink instability is observed to grow and saturate in a line-tied screw pinch plasma. Detailed measurements show that an ideal, line-tied kink mode begins growing when the safety factor q = (4pi2r2B(z))/(mu0I(p)(r)L) drops below 1 inside the plasma; the saturated state corresponds to a rotating helical equilibrium. In addition to the ideal mode, reconnection events are observed to periodically flatten the current profile and change the magnetic topology.