Gyrokinetics

Abstract: A nonlinear gyrokinetic formalism for low‐frequency (less than the cyclotron frequency) microscopic electromagnetic perturbations in general magnetic field configurations is developed The nonlinear equations thus derived are valid in the strong‐turbulence regime and contain effects due to finite Larmor radius, plasma inhomogeneities, and magnetic field geometries The specific case of axisymmetric tokamaks is then considered and a model nonlinear equation is derived for electrostatic drift waves Also, applying the formalism to the shear Alfven wave heating scheme, it is found that nonlinear ion Landau damping of kinetic shear‐Alfven waves is modified, both qualitatively and quantitatively, by the diamagnetic drift effects In particular, wave energy is found to cascade in wavenumber instead of frequency

Abstract: The first toroidal, gyrokinetic, electromagnetic simulations of small scale plasma turbulence are presented. The turbulence considered is driven by gradients in the electron temperature. It is found that electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence can induce experimentally relevant thermal losses in magnetic confinement fusion devices. For typical tokamak parameters, the transport is essentially electrostatic in character. The simulation results are qualitatively consistent with a model that balances linear and secondary mode growth rates. Significant streamer-dominated transport at long wavelengths occurs because the secondary modes that produce saturation become weak in the ETG limit.

Abstract: In this report we present a time-explicit, Eulerian numerical scheme for the solution of the nonlinear gyrokinetic-Maxwell equations. The treatment of electrons is fully drift-kinetic, transverse electromagnetic fluctuations are included, and profile variation is allowed over an arbitrary radial annulus. The code, gyro, is benchmarked against analytic theory, linear eigenmode codes, and nonlinear electrostatic gyrokinetic particle-in-cell codes. We have attempted preliminary finite-β calculations in the range β/βcrit=[0.0,0.5] for a reference discharge. Detailed diagnostic data is presented for these simulations, along with a number of caveats which reflect the uncharted nature of the parameter regime.