Gyrokinetic particle simulation of microturbulence for general magnetic geometry and experimental profiles
- Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697 (United States)
Developments in gyrokinetic particle simulation enable the gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC) to simulate turbulent transport in tokamaks with realistic equilibrium profiles and plasma geometry, which is a critical step in the code–experiment validation process. These new developments include numerical equilibrium representation using B-splines, a new Poisson solver based on finite difference using field-aligned mesh and magnetic flux coordinates, a new zonal flow solver for general geometry, and improvements on the conventional four-point gyroaverage with nonuniform background marker loading. The gyrokinetic Poisson equation is solved in the perpendicular plane instead of the poloidal plane. Exploiting these new features, GTC is able to simulate a typical DIII-D discharge with experimental magnetic geometry and profiles. The simulated turbulent heat diffusivity and its radial profile show good agreement with other gyrokinetic codes. The newly developed nonuniform loading method provides a modified radial transport profile to that of the conventional uniform loading method.
- OSTI ID:
- 22408111
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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