Correlation between Electron Transport and Shear Alfven Activity in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

Journal Article · Fri Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.102.115002· OSTI ID:21180303

Stutman, D; Delgado-Aparicio, L; Finkenthal, M; Tritz, K ^[1]; Gorelenkov, N; Fredrickson, E; Kaye, S; Mazzucato, E ^[2]

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1. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218 (United States)
2. Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 08543 (United States)

We report the observation of a correlation between shear Alfven eigenmode activity and electron transport in plasma regimes where the electron temperature gradient is flat, and thus the drive for temperature gradient microinstabilities is absent. Plasmas having rapid central electron transport show intense, broadband global Alfven eigenmode (GAE) activity in the 0.5-1.1 MHz range, while plasmas with low transport are essentially GAE-free. The first theoretical assessment of a GAE-electron transport connection indicates that overlapping modes can resonantly couple to the bulk thermal electrons and induce their stochastic diffusion.

• OSTI ID: 21180303
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 102, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.115002; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
PLASMA
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS