First experimental observation of zonal flows in the optimized stellarator Wendelstein 7-X
Plasma Physics
2024-06-19 v1 Geophysics
Abstract
In this work, we present the first experimental evidence of the presence of zonal flow (ZF) structures in the optimized stellarator Wendelstein 7-X. Using an assortment of diagnostics, flux surface-uniform, electrostatic flow oscillations have been measured, showing a radial scale in the range of tens of ion gyroradii. Such measurements show remarkable agreement with the ZF predicted by local and global non-linear gyrokinetic simulations. These results represent the first direct measurement of ZF in a large stellarator, suitable for the validation of models in reactor relevant conditions.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2406.12514,
title = {First experimental observation of zonal flows in the optimized stellarator Wendelstein 7-X},
author = {D. Carralero and T. Estrada and J. M. García-Regaña and E. Sánchez and T. Windisch and A. Alonso and E. Maragkoudakis and C. Brandt and K. J. Brunner and C. Gallego-Castillo and K. Rahbarnia and H. Thienpondt and the Wendelstein 7-X Team},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.12514},
year = {2024}
}
Comments
Submitted to Physical Review Letters