No Arabic abstract
We report on first evidence of wave activity during neutral beam heating in KSTAR plasmas: 40 kHz magnetic fluctuations with a toroidal mode number of n=1. Our analysis suggests this a beta-induced Alfven eigenmode resonant with the q=1 surface. A kinetic analysis, when coupled with electron temperature measurements from electron cyclotron emission and ion/electron temperature ratios from crystallography, enables calculation of the frequency evolution, which is in agreement with observations. Complementary detailed MHD modelling of the magnetic configuration and wave modes supports the BAE mode conclusion, by locating an n=1 mode separated from the continuum in the core region. Finally, we have computed the threshold to marginal stability for a range of ion temperature profiles. These suggest the BAE can be driven unstable by energetic ions when the ion temperature radial gradient is sufficiently large. Our findings suggest that mode existence could be used as a form of inference for temperature profile consistency in the radial interval of the mode, thereby extending the tools of MHD spectroscopy.
This comment clarifies the relation of the research in a recently published article [Phys. Plasmas 14, 042503 (2007)] to other prior publications addressing the inclusion of electromagnetic and drift-kinetic electron physics in gyrokinetic simulation, raises a concern related to the inclusion of kinetic electrons in a system with magnetic shear, and discusses alternatives in the face of an important limitation on the general applicability of the algorithm described therein.
Reduced fluid models including electron inertia and ion finite Larmor radius corrections are derived asymptotically, both from fluid basic equations and from a gyrofluid model. They apply to collisionless plasmas with small ion-to-electron equilibrium temperature ratio and low $beta_e$, where $beta_e$ indicates the ratio between the equilibrium electron pressure and the magnetic pressure exerted by a strong, constant and uniform magnetic guide field. The consistency between the fluid and gyrofluid approaches is ensured when choosing ion closure relations prescribed by the underlying ordering. A two-field reduction of the gyrofluid model valid for arbitrary equilibrium temperature ratio is also introduced, and is shown to have a noncanonical Hamiltonian structure. This model provides a convenient framework for studying kinetic Alfven wave turbulence, from MHD to sub-$d_e$ scales (where $d_e$ holds for the electron skin depth). Magnetic energy spectra are phenomenologically determined within energy and generalized helicity cascades in the perpendicular spectral plane. Arguments based on absolute statistical equilibria are used to predict the direction of the transfers, pointing out that, within the sub-ion range associated with a $k_perp^{-7/3}$ transverse magnetic spectrum, the generalized helicity could display an inverse cascade if injected at small scales, for example by reconnection processes.
Experiments of electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECH) power scan in KSTAR tokamak clearly demonstrate that both the cut-off density for non-local heat transport (NLT) and the threshold density for intrinsic rotation reversal can be determined by the collisionality. We demonstrate that NLT can be affected by ECH, and the intrinsic rotation direction follows the changes of NLT. The cut-off density of NLT and threshold density for rotation reversal can be significantly extended by ECH. The poloidal flow of turbulence in core plasma is in the electron and the ion diamagnetic direction in ECH plasmas and high density OH plasma, respectively. The auto-power spectra of density fluctuation are almost the same in the outer region for both ECH and OH plasmas. On the other hand, in the core region of ECH plasmas, the power spectra of the density fluctuations are broader than those of OH plasma. All these observations in macroscopic parameters and micro fluctuations suggest a possible link between the macro phenomena and the structural changes in micro-fluctuations.
Weak Alfvenic turbulence in a periodic domain is considered as a mixed state of Alfven waves interacting with the two-dimensional (2D) condensate. Unlike in standard treatments, no spectral continuity between the two is assumed and indeed none is found. If the 2D modes are not directly forced, k^{-2} and k^{-1} spectra are found for the Alfven waves and the 2D modes, respectively, with the latter less energetic than the former. The wave number at which their energies become comparable marks the transition to strong turbulence. For imbalanced energy injection, the spectra are similar and the Elsasser ratio scales as the ratio of the energy fluxes in the counterpropagting Alfven waves. If the 2D modes are forced, a 2D inverse cascade dominates the dynamics at the largest scales, but at small enough scales, the same weak and then strong regimes as described above are achieved.
Nonlinear axisymmetric cylindrical plasma oscillations in magnetized collisionless plasmas are a model for the electron fluid collapse on the axis behind an ultrashort relativisically intense laser pulse exciting a plasma wake wave. We present an analytical description of the strongly nonlinear oscillations showing that the magnetic field prevents closing of the cavity formed behind the laser pulse. This effect is demonstrated with 3D PIC simulations of the laser-plasma interaction. An analysis of the betatron oscillations of fast electrons in the presence of the magnetic field reveals a characteristic Four-Ray Star pattern which has been observed in the image of the electron bunch in experiments [T. Hosokai, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 075004 (2006)].