By choosing appropriate deformed Maxwellian ion and electron distribution functions depending on the two particle constants of motion, i.e. the energy and toroidal angular momentum, we reduce the Vlasov axisymmetric equilibrium problem for quasineutral plasmas to a transcendental Grad-Shafranov-like equation. This equation is then solved numerically under the Dirichlet boundary condition for an analytically prescribed boundary possessing a lower X-point to construct tokamak equilibria with toroidal sheared ion flow and anisotropic pressure. Depending on the deformation of the distribution functions these steady states can have toroidal current densities either peaked on the magnetic axis or hollow. These two kinds of equilibria may be regarded as a bifurcation in connection with symmetry properties of the distribution functions on the magnetic axis.
先前在宏观理论中不存在具有纯极向流的托卡马克平衡的证明[Throumoulopoulos，Weitzner，Tasso，Physics of Plasmas第13卷，122501（2006）]激发了对环形和“直”托卡马克等离子体在磁轴附近的微观分析。尽管这里找到了弗拉索夫方程的新的精确解，宏观流动的结构仍然难以捉摸。
Toroidal rotation is well known to play significant roles in the edge transport and L-H transition dynamics of tokamaks. Our recent calculation finds that a sufficiently strong localized toroidal rotation can directly bring out the formation of edge pressure pedestal with reversed magnetic shear that is reminiscent of an H-mode plasma, purely through the effects of toroidal rotation on the tokamak MHD equilibrium itself. In particular, the enhanced edge toroidal rotation enables a substantial peaking of the parallel current profile near edge in higher $β$ regimes, which leads to the flattening…
A simulated annealing (SA) relaxation method is used for calculation of high-beta reduced magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equilibria in toroidal geometry. The SA method, based on artificial dynamics derived from the MHD Hamiltonian structure, is used to calculate equilibria of large-aspect-ratio and circular-cross-section tokamaks as well as toroidally averaged stellarators. Tokamak equilibria including incompressible poloidal rotations are obtained and the Shafranov shift is seen to increase nearly quadratically in the rotation speed. A mapping procedure between non-rotating and poloidally rotatin…
The radial flux of toroidal angular momentum is needed to determine tokamak intrinsic rotation profiles. Its computation requires knowledge of the gyrokinetic distribution functions and turbulent electrostatic potential to second-order in $ε= ρ/L$, where $ρ$ is the ion Larmor radius and $L$ is the variation length of the magnetic field. In this article, a complete set of equations to calculate the radial transport of toroidal angular momentum in any tokamak is presented. In particular, the $O(ε^2)$ equations for the turbulent components of the distribution functions and electrostatic potential…
The Grad-Shafranov equation is solved using spectral elements for tokamak equilibrium with toroidal rotation. The Grad-Shafranov solver builds upon and extends the NIMEQ code [Howell and Sovinec, Comput. Phys. Commun. 185 (2014) 1415] previously developed for static tokamak equilibria. Both geometric and algebraic convergence are achieved as the polynomial degree of the spectral-element basis increases. A new analytical solution to the Grad-Shafranov equation is obtained for Solov'ev equilibrium in presence of rigid toroidal rotation, in addition to a previously obtained analytical solution fo…
Effects of anisotropy on the geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) is analyzed by using gyro-kinetic equations applicable to low-frequency microinstabilities in a toroidally rotating tokamak plasma. Dispersion relation in the presence of arbitrary Mach number $M$, anisotropy strength $σ$, and the temperature ration $τ$ is analytically derived. It is shown that when $σ$ is less than $ 3 + 2 τ$, the increased electron temperature with fixed ion parallel temperature increases the normalized GAM frequency. When $σ$ is larger than $ 3 + 2 τ$, the increasing of electron temperature decreases the GAM frequenc…
The characteristic profile and magnitude are predicted in theory for the neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) torque induced by plasma response to the resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) in a tokamak with an edge pedestal. For a low-$β$ equilibrium, the NTV torque is dominated by the toroidal component with the same dominant toroidal mode number of RMP. The NTV torque profile is found to be localized, whose peak location is determined by profiles of both the equilibrium temperature (pressure) and the plasma response. In general, the peak of NTV torque profile is found to track the pedestal p…
Geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) is analyzed by using modified gyro-kinetic (MGK) equation applicable to low-frequency microinstabilities in a rotating axisymmetric plasma. Dispersion relation of GAM in the presence of arbitrary Mach number is analytically derived. Toroidal rotation plays the same effects on the GAM regardless of the orientation of equilibrium flow. It is shown that the toroidal Mach number $M$ increases the GAM frequency and dramatically decreases the Landau damping rate. The valid of classical gyro-kinetic (CGK) equation is also examined. For zero electron temperature, CGK is id…
Toroidal torque generated by neoclassical viscosity caused by external non-resonant, non-axisymmetric perturbations has a significant influence on toroidal plasma rotation in tokamaks. In this article, a derivation for the expressions of toroidal torque and radial transport in resonant regimes is provided within quasilinear theory in canonical action-angle variables. The proposed approach treats all low-collisional quasilinear resonant NTV regimes including superbanana plateau and drift-orbit resonances in a unified way and allows for magnetic drift in all regimes. It is valid for perturbation…
We analyze an axisymmetric equilibrium of a plasma endowed with toroidal and poloidal velocity fields, with the aim to characterize the influence of the global motion on the morphology of the magnetic confinement. We construct our configuration assuming that the poloidal velocity field is aligned with the poloidal magnetic field lines and, furthermore, we require that the plasma mass density depend on the magnetic flux function (or equivalently, that the plasma fluid be incompressible). We then derive a sort of Grad-Shafranov equation for such an equilibrium and implement it to tokamak relevan…
In the presence of energetic particles (EPs), the Long-Lived Mode (LLM) frequency multiplication with n = 1,2,3 or higher is often observed on HL-2A, where n is the toroidal mode number. Hybrid kinetic-MHD model simulations of the energetic particle (EP) driven kink/fishbone modes on a static HL-2A-like tokamak using NIMROD code find that, when the background plasma pressure is relatively high, and the EP pressure and the beam energy are relatively low, the mode frequency increases almost linearly with EP pressure, and the frequency is proportional to n ("frequency multiplication"), even in ab…
The shear Alfvén continuum spectrum is studied for a tokamak with a single island chain using the ideal Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) theory. We have taken into account the toroidal geometry and toroidal mode coupling with the island considered as a highly-shaped stellarator. Various new frequency gaps open up inside the island due to its asymmetry both poloidally and toroidally, such as the Mirror-induced Alfvén Eigenmode (MAE) gap and the Helicity-induced Alfvén Eigenmode (HAE) gap. We have shown that the MAE gap acts as the continuation of the outside Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmode (TAE) gap into t…
We show that zonal flow can be preferentially excited by intermediate-scale toroidal electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence in tokamak plasmas. Previous theoretical studies that yielded an opposite conclusion assumed a fluid approximation for ETG modes. Here, we carry out a gyrokinetic analysis which ultimately yields a nonlinear Schrödinger equation for the ETG dynamics with a Navier-Stokes type nonlinearity. For typical tokamak parameters, it is found that zonal flow generation plays an important role in the intermediate-scale ETG turbulence. This finding offers an explanation for re…
The time varying currents in the Ohmic transformer in the SST-1 tokamak induce voltages that drive large eddy currents in the passive structures like the vacuum vessel and cryostat. Since the vacuum vessel and the cryostat are toroidally continuous without electrical breaks in SST- 1, this leads to a shielding effect on the flux penetrating the vacuum vessel. This reduces the magnitude of the loop voltage seen by the plasma as also delays its buildup. Also the induced currents alter the null location of magnetic field. This will have serious implications on the plasma breakdown and startup and…
Recent work demonstrated that breaking the up-down symmetry of tokamak flux surfaces removes a constraint that limits intrinsic momentum transport, and hence toroidal rotation, to be small. We show, through MHD analysis, that ellipticity is most effective at introducing up-down asymmetry throughout the plasma. We detail an extension to GS2, a local $δf$ gyrokinetic code that self-consistently calculates momentum transport, to permit up-down asymmetric configurations. Tokamaks with tilted elliptical poloidal cross-sections were simulated to determine nonlinear momentum transport. The results, w…
AA spontaneous toroidal rotation due to the electron-ion asymmetric anomalous viscous damping and the turbulent radial particle flux has been found, which explains the experimental observation of the anomalous toroidal momentum source in the edge of a tokamak plasma.
Hollow toroidal rotation profiles in strongly electron heated H-mode plasmas in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak
Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics（马克斯·普朗克等离子体物理研究所）；Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University（哥伦比亚大学应用物理与应用数学系）；VTT（芬兰技术研究中心VTT）
The structure of poloidal and toroidal flows of trace impurities in the edge pedestal of tokamak plasmas is studied analytically and numerically. Parallel momentum balance is analysed upon retaining the following terms: poloidal and toroidal centrifugal forces (inertia), pressure force, electric force, and the friction force. It is shown that, when the poloidal flow is such to produce a properly defined Mach number of order unity somewhere on the flux surface, shock fronts can form. The shock fronts can modify the predicted asymmetry structures in both the flow and the density profile along th…
Conceptual study on using Doppler backscattering to measure magnetic pitch angle in tokamak plasmas
Future Energy Acceleration and Translation Programme, Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)（未来能源加速与转化计划，科学与技术研究局）；Department of Physics, University of Oxford（牛津大学物理系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles（加州大学洛杉矶分校物理与天文学系）；Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory（劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室）；Department of Physics, National University of Singapore（新加坡国立大学物理系）；Commonwealth Fusion Systems（联邦聚变系统）；Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory（普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室）；Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford（牛津大学鲁道夫·佩尔斯理论物理中心）
I present the results of the analytic plane strain optimization of the structure and conductor grading in the inner leg of a Tokamak toroidal field coil. The coil is assumed to be made of regions of soft conductor inside a stiff grid of conduit. Calculus of variations is used to determine the optimal profile of this structure. The optimal solution is found to be two-layered. An outer layer is bucked only, not wedged, and the structure fraction is graded so that all structure is at a uniform stress. An inner layer is an advanced bucking cylinder, similar to a Florida Bitter plate, whose radial …
Spontaneous spin-up are widely observed in tokamak plasmas, which is crucially important for plasma confinement. A kinetic theory is proposed to show that a toroidal rotation of core plasma is induced by the topological transition of orbits driven by turbulent diffusion in a collisionless tokamak plasma. The theoretical prediction agrees well with the well-known Rice-scaling of intrinsic core plasma flow. This new theory predicts an intrinsic core parallel flow of $\sim 100km/s$ for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.
Kinetic ballooning modes (KBM) are widely believed to play a critical role in disruptive dynamics as well as turbulent transport in tokamaks. While the nonlinear evolution of ballooning modes has been proposed as a mechanism for detonation in tokamak plasmas, the role of kinetic effects in such nonlinear dynamics remains largely unexplored. In this work global gyrokinetic simulation results of KBM nonlinear behavior are presented. Instead of the finite-time singularity predicted by ideal MHD theory, the kinetic instability is shown to develop into an intermediate nonlinear regime of exponentia…
