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Related papers: Zonal flow generation by modulational instability

200 papers

In the present work the generation of zonal flows in collisionless trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence is studied analytically. A reduced model for TEM turbulence is utilized based on an advanced fluid model for reactive drift waves. An…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2009-11-13 J. Anderson , H. Nordman , R. Singh , J. Weiland

For H-mode, standard decorrelation theory predicts that it is the turbulence intensity $|\phi_k|^2$ that is mainly affected via flow-induced shearing of turbulent eddies. However, for other regimes (e.g. I-mode, characterized by high energy…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2019-10-01 M. Leconte , R. Singh

Zonal flows are mean flows in the east-west direction, which are ubiquitous on planets, and can be formed through 'zonostrophic instability': within turbulence or random waves, a weak large-scale zonal flow can grow exponentially to become…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2024-11-20 Chen Wang , Joanne Mason , Andrew D. Gilbert

In this work, gyrokinetic theory of drift waves (DWs) self-regulation via the forced driven zonal flow (ZF) is presented, and finite diamagnetic drift frequency due to plasma nonuniformity is shown to play dominant role in ZF forced…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2024-02-13 Ningfei Chen , Liu Chen , Fulvio Zonca , Zhiyong Qiu

Zonal flows and turbulence spreading play important roles in magnetic fusion plasma confinement, yet their coupling mechanisms remain elusive. Using global nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations, we show that turbulence spreading transports…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2026-04-23 Min Ki Jung , Sumin Yi , Taik Soo Hahm , Yong-Su Na

Excitation of zonal flow by the modulational instability in the presence of mean shear flow is considered. It is shown that the small amplitude mean flow favours the modulational instability, increasing the growth rate, whereas sufficiently…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2009-11-13 V. M. Lashkin

The Generalized Hasegawa-Mima (GHM) equation, which generalizes the standard Hasegawa-Mima (HM) equation, is a nonlinear equation describing the evolution of drift wave turbulence in curved magnetic fields. The GHM equation can be obtained…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2024-01-02 Naoki Sato , Michio Yamada

The impact of magnetic geometry on zonal-flow generation in ion temperature gradient driven turbulence is investigated by means of linear and nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. The modulation of geodesic curvature on various configurations…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2026-03-02 Motoki Nakata , Seikichi Matsuoka

Effects of plasma nonuniformity on zero frequency zonal structure (ZFZS) excitation by drift Alfven wave (DAW) instabilities in toroidal plasmas are investigated using nonlinear gyrokinetic theory. The governing equations describing…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2024-08-02 Zhiyong Qiu , Guangyu Wei , Liu Chen , Ruirui Ma

A theoretical interpretation of numerically generated probability density functions (PDFs) of intermittent plasma transport events in unforced zonal flows is provided within the Charney-Hasegawa-Mima (CHM) model. The governing equation is…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2015-05-13 Johan Anderson , Gert J. J. Botha

The formation of zonal flows and vortices in the generalized Charney-Hasegawa-Mima equation is studied. We focus on the regime when the size of structures is comparable to or larger than the deformation (Rossby) radius. Numerical…

chao-dyn · Physics 2009-10-28 Nikolai Kukharkin , Steven A. Orszag

We study the dynamics of periodic wave trains in reaction-diffusion systems on the real line under large, fully nonlocalized modulations. We prove that solutions with nearby initial data converge, at an enhanced diffusive rate, to a…

Analysis of PDEs · Mathematics 2025-08-13 Joannis Alexopoulos , Björn de Rijk

It is shown that magnetic islands generated by pressure-gradient-driven turbulence are common across a wide range of conditions. The interaction among turbulence, magnetic island and other large scale structures (the zonal flow and the…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2025-07-01 Daniele Villa , Nicolas Dubuit , Olivier Agullo , Xavier Garbet

Turbulence driven zonal flows play an important role in fusion devices since they improve plasma confinement by limiting the level of anomalous transport. Current theories mostly focus on flow excitation but do not self-consistently…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2011-06-13 Niels Guertler , Klaus Hallatschek

Results from a new series of experiments on flows generated by localized heating in the presence of a background zonal current on the polar beta-plane are presented. The flow induced by a heater without the background zonal flow is in the…

Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics · Physics 2015-06-15 Yi Sui , Yakov D. Afanasyev

Due to their capability to reduce turbulent transport in magnetized plasmas, understanding the dynamics of zonal flows is an important problem in the fusion programme. Since the pioneering work by Rosenbluth and Hinton in axisymmetric…

In the study of plasma, particularly in applications involving strong laser-plasma interactions, the propagation of a strong electromagnetic wave induces relativistic velocities in the electron flow. Given such conditions, the wave…

A new, frequency modulation mechanism for zonal flow pattern formation is presented. The model predicts the probability distribution function of the flow strength as well as the evolution of the characteristic spatial scale. Magnetic…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2016-09-28 Z. B. Guo , P. H. Diamond

A general equation for drift waves is derived incorporating both nonlinear electron density perturbation and ion vorticity effects. It is emphasized that the well-known Hasegawa-Mima (HM) equation for drift waves [A. Hasegawa and K. Mima,…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2026-01-21 Hamid Saleem

This article deals with rotating magnetohydrodynamic flows of a thin stratified layer of astrophysical plasma in a gravitational field with a free-surface in a vertical external magnetic field. Magnetohydrodynamic equations are obtained in…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2019-07-02 Maria Fedotova , Dmitry Klimachkov , Arakel Petrosyan