We develop a gyrokinetic treatment for ions in the magnetic presheath, close to the plasma-wall boundary. We focus on magnetic presheaths with a small magnetic field to wall angle, $α\ll 1$ (in radians). Characteristic lengths perpendicular to the wall in such a magnetic presheath scale with the typical ion Larmor orbit size, $ρ_{\text{i}}$. The smallest scale length associated with variations parallel to the wall is taken to be across the magnetic field, and ordered $l = ρ_{\text{i}} / δ$, where $ δ\ll 1$ is assumed. The scale lengths along the magnetic field line are assumed so long that variations associated with this direction are neglected. These orderings are consistent with what we expect close to the divertor target of a tokamak. We allow for a strong component of the electric field $\vec{E}$ in the direction normal to the electron repelling wall, with strong variation in the same direction. The large change of the electric field over an ion Larmor radius distorts the orbit so that it is not circular. We solve for the lowest order orbits by identifying coordinates, which consist of constants of integration, an adiabatic invariant and a gyrophase, associated with periodic ion motion in the system with $α= δ= 0$. By using these new coordinates as variables in the limit $α\sim δ\ll 1$, we obtain a generalized ion gyrokinetic equation. We find another quantity that is conserved to first order and use this to simplify the gyrokinetic equation, solving it in the case of a collisionless magnetic presheath. Assuming a Boltzmann response for the electrons, a form of the quasineutrality equation that exploits the change of variables is derived. The gyrokinetic and quasineutrality equations give the ion distribution function and electrostatic potential in the magnetic presheath if the entrance boundary condition is specified.
Particle transport due to Ion Temperature Gradient/Trapped Electron (ITG/TE) mode turbulence is investigated using the gyrokinetic code GENE. Both a reduced quasilinear (QL) treatment and nonlinear (NL) simulations are performed for typical tokamak parameters corresponding to ITG dominated turbulence. A selfconsistent treatment is used, where the stationary local profiles are calculated corresponding to zero particle flux simultaneously for electrons and trace impurities. The scaling of the stationary profiles with magnetic shear, safety factor, electron-to-ion temperature ratio, collisionalit…
Gyrokinetic theory is based on an asymptotic expansion in the small parameter $ε$, defined as the ratio of the gyroradius and the characteristic length of variation of the magnetic field. In this article, this ordering is strictly implemented to compute the electrostatic gyrokinetic phase-space Lagrangian in general magnetic geometry to order $ε^2$. In particular, a new expression for the complete second-order gyrokinetic Hamiltonian is provided, showing that in a rigorous treatment of gyrokinetic theory magnetic geometry and turbulence cannot be dealt with independently. The new phase-space g…
The gyrokinetics formulation of plasmas in strong magnetic fields aims at the elimination of the angle associated with the Larmor rotation of charged particles around the magnetic field lines. In a perturbative treatment or as a time-averaging procedure, gyrokinetics is in general an approximation to the true dynamics. Here we discuss the conditions under which gyrokinetics is either an approximation or an exact operation in the framework of reduction of dynamical systems with symmetry
Gyrokinetic simulations have greatly improved our theoretical understanding of turbulent transport in fusion devices. Most gyrokinetic models in use are delta-f simulations in which the slowly varying radial profiles of density and temperature are assumed to be constant for turbulence saturation times, and only the turbulent electromagnetic fluctuations are calculated. New massive simulations are being built to self-consistently determine the radial profiles of density and temperature. However, these new codes have failed to realize that modern gyrokinetic formulations, composed of a gyrokinet…
Here we present details of a mixed implicit-explicit numerical scheme for the solution of the gyrokinetic-Poisson system of equations in the local limit. This scheme has been implemented in a new code called $\texttt{stella}$, which is capable of evolving electrostatic fluctuations with full kinetic electron effects and an arbitrary number of ion species in general magnetic geometry. We demonstrate the advantages of this mixed approach over a fully explicit treatment and provide linear and nonlinear benchmark comparisons for both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric magnetic equilibria.
The Dimits shift, an upshift in the onset of turbulence from the linear instability threshold, caused by self-generated zonal flows, can greatly enhance the performance of magnetic confinement plasma devices. Except in simple cases, using fluid approximations and model magnetic geometries, this phenomenon has proved difficult to understand and quantitatively predict. To bridge the large gap in complexity between simple models and realistic treatment in toroidal magnetic geometries (e.g. tokamaks or stellarators), the present work uses fully gyrokinetic simulations in Z-pinch geometry to invest…
A basic prerequisite for the investigation of relativistic astrophysical magnetoplasmas, occurring typically in the vicinity of massive stellar objects (black holes, neutron stars, active galactic nuclei, etc.), is the accurate description of single-particle covariant dynamics, based on gyrokinetic theory (Beklemishev et al.,1999-2005). Provided radiation-reaction effects are negligible, this is usually based on the assumption that both the space-time metric and the EM fields (in particular the magnetic field) are suitably prescribed and are considered independent of single-particle dynamics, …
While in recent years, gyrokinetic simulations have become the workhorse for theoretical turbulence and transport studies in the plasma core, their application to the edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) region presents significant challenges. In particular, steep density and temperature gradients as well as large fluctuation amplitudes call for a "full-f" treatment. To specifically study problems in the SOL region, the gyrokinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) code PICLS has been developed. The code is based on an electrostatic full-f model with linearised field equations and uses kinetic electrons. Here…
A crucial issue in relativistic plasma, particularly relevant in the astrophysical context, is the description of highly magnetized plasmas based on a covariant formulation of gyrokinetic dynamics. An interesting case in question is that in which the background electric field (produced either by the same plasma of by other sources) results suitably small (or vanishing) with respect to the magnetic field, while at the same time short-wavelength EM perturbations can be present. The purpose of this work is to extend the relativistic gyrokinetic theory developed by Beklemishev \textit{et al.} [199…
Observations of ion-scale (k_y*rho_i <= 1) density turbulence of relative amplitude dn_e/n_e <= 0.2% are available on the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) using a 2D (8 radial x 4 poloidal channel) imaging Beam Emission Spectroscopy (BES) diagnostic. Spatial and temporal characteristics of this turbulence, i.e., amplitudes, correlation times, radial and perpendicular correlation lengths and apparent phase velocities of the density contours, are determined by means of correlation analysis. For a low-density, L-mode discharge with strong equilibrium flow shear exhibiting an internal transport b…
TRIMEG-GKX: an electromagnetic gyrokinetic particle code with a Piecewise Field-Aligned Finite Element Method for Micro- and Macro-Instability Studies in Tokamak Core Plasmas
Multiple space and time scales arise in plasma turbulence in magnetic confinement fusion devices because of the smallness of the square root of the electron-to-ion mass ratio $(m_e/m_i)^{1/2}$ and the consequent disparity of the ion and electron thermal gyroradii and thermal speeds. Direct simulations of this turbulence that include both ion and electron space-time scales indicate that there can be significant interactions between the two scales. The extreme computational expense and complexity of these direct simulations motivates the desire for reduced treatment. By exploiting the scale sepa…
Recently, an increasing interest in astrophysical as well as laboratory plasmas has been manifested in reference to the existence of relativistic flows, related in turn to the production of intense electric fields in magnetized systems. Such phenomena require their description in the framework of a consistent relativistic kinetic theory, rather than on relativistic MHD equations, subject to specific closure conditions. The purpose of this work is to apply the relativistic single-particle guiding-center theory developed by Beklemishev and Tessarotto, including the nonlinear treatment of small-w…
We report on a detailed study of magnetic fluctuations in the JET pedestal, employing basic theoretical considerations, gyrokinetic simulations, and experimental fluctuation data, to establish the physical basis for their origin, role, and distinctive characteristics. We demonstrate quantitative agreement between gyrokinetic simulations of microtearing modes (MTMs) and two magnetic frequency bands with corresponding toroidal mode numbers n=4 and 8. Such disparate fluctuation scales, with substantial gaps between toroidal mode numbers, are commonly observed in pedestal fluctuations. Here we pro…
A kinetic treatment is developed for collisionless magnetized plasmas occurring in high-temperature, low-density astrophysical accretion disks, such as are thought to be present in some radiatively-inefficient accretion flows onto black holes. Quasi-stationary configurations are investigated, within the framework of a Vlasov-Maxwell description. The plasma is taken to be axisymmetric and subject to the action of slowly time-varying gravitational and electromagnetic fields. The magnetic field is assumed to be characterized by a family of locally nested but open magnetic surfaces. The slow colli…
