Role of fast ions in spontaneous neoclassical tearing mode instabilities in NSTX

Yang, James; Podesta, Mario; Fredrickson, Eric; Liu, Chang; Berkery, John W; Poli, Francesca M

doi:10.1088/1361-6587/acd07f

Role of fast ions in spontaneous neoclassical tearing mode instabilities in NSTX

Journal Article · Mon May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6587/acd07f· OSTI ID:1974415

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Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Spontaneous neoclassical tearing modes (spontaneous NTMs) have been observed in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). Recently, a TRANSP based model for the modified Rutherford equation analysis was developed to accurately predict the effect of fast ions on the growth of magnetic islands. The goal of this paper is to utilize the TRANSP NTM model to understand the role of fast ions in NSTX spontaneous NTMs. Our analysis shows that when the passing fast ion driven kinetic neoclassical polarization current term is larger than 1% of the bootstrap current term in the modified Rutherford equation, fast ions play a decisive role in the early growth phase of spontaneous NTM. This result is applicable to any tokamak plasmas with a fast ion drift orbit width, or the fast ion poloidal Larmor radius, comparable to the magnetic island width.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 1974415

Journal Information:: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Journal Name: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Vol. 65; ISSN 0741-3335

Publisher:: IOP ScienceCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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