On the application of electron cyclotron emission imaging to the validation of theoretical models of magnetohydrodynamic activity

Journal Article · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3563572· OSTI ID:1016614

Tobias, Ben ^[1]; Boivin, R. L. ^[2]; Boom, J. E. ^[3]; Classen, I. G.J. ^[3]; Domier, C. W. ^[1]; Heidbrink, W. ^[4]; Luhmann, N. C. ^[1]; Munsat, T. ^[5]; Muscatello, C. M. ^[4]; Nazikian, Raffi ^[6]; Park, H. K. ^[7]; Spong, Donald A ^[8]; Turnbull, A. D. ^[9]; Van Zeeland, Michael ^[9]; Yun, G. S. ^[7]

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1. University of California, Davis
2. General Atomics, San Diego
3. FOM Institute for Plasma Physics Rijnhuizen, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
4. University of California, Irvine
5. University of Colorado, Boulder
6. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL)
7. Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Republic of Korea
8. ORNL
9. General Atomics

Two-dimensional (2D) imaging of electron temperature perturbations provides a powerful constraint for validating theoretical models describing magnetohydrodynamic plasma behavior. In observation of Alfven wave induced temperature fluctuations, electron cyclotron emission imaging provides unambiguous determination of the 2D eigenmode structure. This has provided support for nonperturbative eigenmode solvers which predict symmetry breaking due to poloidal flows in the fast ion population. It is shown that for Alfven eigenmodes, and in cases where convective flows or saturated perturbations lead to nonaxisymmetric equilibria, electron plasma displacements oriented parallel to a gradient in mean temperature are well defined. Furthermore, during highly dynamic behavior, such as the sawtooth crash, highly resolved 2D temperature behaviors yield valuable insight. In particular, addressing the role of adiabatic heating on time scales much shorter than the resistive diffusion time through the additional diagnosis of local electron density allows progress to be made toward a comprehensive understanding of fast reconnection in tokamak plasmas.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1016614
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 5; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ALFVEN WAVES
CYCLOTRONS
DIAGNOSIS
DIFFUSION
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
FLUCTUATIONS
HEATING
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PLASMA
SYMMETRY BREAKING
VALIDATION
electron cylclotron Alfven instability tokamak reversed shear gyrofluid