Runaway Electron Beam Instability in Slide-Away Discharges in the HT-7 Tokamak

Runaway Electron Beam Instability in Slide-Away Discharges in the HT-7 Tokamak

Slide-away discharges are achieved by decreasing the plasma density or ramping down the plasma current in runaway discharges in the HT-7 tokamak. In the case of plasma current ramp down, the ratio of the electron plasma frequency to the electron cyclotron frequency is higher than in the stationary pulses when the discharge goes into a slide-away regime. The instability regime is characterized by relaxations in the electron cyclotron emission due to relativistic anomalous Doppler effect which transfers energy from parallel to perpendicular motion. The triggering of relativistic anomalous Doppler effect at higher density by ramping down of plasma current may provide a alternative runaway energy control scenario.