Related papers: Non-existence of normal tokamak equilibria with ne…
Starting from expressions in Connor et al. (1988) [1], we derive a one-dimensional tearing equation similar to the approximate equation obtained by Hegna and Callen (1984) [2] and by Nishimura et al (1998) [3], but for more realistic…
Non-rotating (`locked') magnetic islands often lead to complete losses of confinement in tokamak plasmas, called major disruptions. Here locked islands were suppressed for the first time, by a combination of applied three-dimensional…
In the merging-compression method of plasma start-up, two flux-ropes with parallel toroidal current are formed around in-vessel poloidal field coils, before merging to form a spherical tokamak plasma. This start-up method, used in the…
Accurate modeling of core instabilities in tokamak plasmas is essential to understand the underlying physical mechanisms and their impact on plasma confinement. The ideal stability of the internal kink mode and the m = 1 collisionless…
The thickness of current sheets is extremely important, especially as it relates to the onset of fast magnetic reconnection. Onset determines how much magnetic free energy can build up in a field before it is explosively released. This has…
Calculations of tearing mode stability in tokamaks split conveniently into an external region, where marginally stable ideal MHD is applicable, and a resonant layer around the rational surface where sophisticated kinetic physics is needed.…
Force-free current sheets are local plasma structures with field-aligned electric currents and approximately uniform plasma pressures. Such structures, widely found throughout the heliosphere, are sites for plasma instabilities and magnetic…
Resonant drive in tokamaks is routinely quantified using a variety of different metrics that target different aspects of a resonant response to an external perturbation. Two of the most direct metrics, $\Delta_{mn}$ and $b_{pen}$, are…
The neoclassical transport theory is applied to calculate electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) efficiency in an axisymmetric tokamak in the low-collisionality regime. The tokamak ordering is used to obtain a system of equations that…
Verification and validation of the internal kink instability in tokamak have been performed for both gyrokinetic (GTC) and kinetic-MHD codes (GAM-solver, M3D-C1-K, NOVA, XTOR-K). Using realistic magnetic geometry and plasma profiles from…
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…
To identify under what conditions guiding-centre or full-orbit tracing should be used, an estimation of the spatial variation of the magnetic field is proposed, not only taking into account gradient and curvature terms but also parallel…
Existing investigations of the anomalous Hall effect i.e. a current flowing transverse to the electric field in the absence of an external magnetic field) are concerned with the transport current. However, for many applications one needs to…
In the pedestal of a tokamak, the sharp radial gradients of density and temperature can give rise to poloidal variation in the density of impurities. At the same time, the flow of the impurity species is modified relative to the…
Three dimensional computations of self consistent three species gyrofluid turbulence are carried out for tokamak edge conditions. Profiles as well as disturbances in dependent variables are followed, running the dynamical system to…
We construct the low-frequency formulation of the turbulence characterizing the plasma in a Tokamak edge. Under rather natural assumptions we demonstrate that, even in the presence of poloidal magnetic fluctuations, it is possible to deal…
Recent gyrokinetic stability calculations have revealed that the spherical tokamak is susceptible to tearing parity instabilities with length scales of a few ion Larmor radii perpendicular to the magnetic field lines. Here we investigate…
A novel, compact, quasi-axisymmetric configuration is presented which exhibits low fast-particle losses and is stable to ideal MHD instabilities. The design has fast-particle loss rates below 8\% for flux surfaces within the half-radius,…
It is shown that small externally applied magnetic perturbations can significantly alter important geometric properties of magnetic flux surfaces in tokamaks. Through 3D shaping, experimentally relevant perturbation levels are large enough…
The global ideal kink equation, for cylindrical geometry and zero beta, is simplified in the high poloidal mode number limit and used to determine the tearing stability parameter, $\Delta^\prime$. In the presence of a steep monotonic…