Structure of micro-instabilities in tokamak plasmas: Stiff transport or plasma eruptions?
- EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom)
- York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD (United Kingdom)
Solutions to a model 2D eigenmode equation describing micro-instabilities in tokamak plasmas are presented that demonstrate a sensitivity of the mode structure and stability to plasma profiles. In narrow regions of parameter space, with special plasma profiles, a maximally unstable mode is found that balloons on the outboard side of the tokamak. This corresponds to the conventional picture of a ballooning mode. However, for most profiles, this mode cannot exist, and instead, a more stable mode is found that balloons closer to the top or bottom of the plasma. Good quantitative agreement with a 1D ballooning analysis is found, provided the constraints associated with higher order profile effects, often neglected, are taken into account. A sudden transition from this general mode to the more unstable ballooning mode can occur for a critical flow shear, providing a candidate model for why some experiments observe small plasma eruptions (Edge Localised Modes, or ELMs) in place of large Type I ELMs.
- OSTI ID:
- 22252178
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2014 EURATOM; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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