On nonlinear physics of shear Alfvén waves

Journal Article · Wed May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4804628· OSTI ID:22218645

Chen, Liu ^[1]; Zonca, Fulvio ^[2]

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1. Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China)
2. Associazione EURATOM-ENEA sulla Fusione, CP 65-00044 Frascati (Italy)

Shear Alfvén waves (SAW) are electromagnetic oscillations prevalent in laboratory and nature magnetized plasmas. Due to their anisotropic nature, it is well known that the linear wave propagation and dispersiveness of SAW are fundamentally affected by plasma nonuniformities and magnetic field geometries, such as the existence of continuous spectrum, spectral gaps, and discrete eigenmodes in toroidal plasmas. This work discusses the pure Alfvénic state and demonstrates the crucial roles that finite ion compressibility, non-ideal kinetic effects, and geometry play in breaking it and, thereby, the nonlinear physics of SAW wave-wave interactions.

• OSTI ID: 22218645
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 20; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ALFVEN WAVES
ANISOTROPY
COMPRESSIBILITY
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
IONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
OSCILLATIONS
PLASMA
PLASMA WAVES
SHEAR
WAVE PROPAGATION