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Title: Regulation of electron temperature gradient turbulence by zonal flows driven by trapped electron modes

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4875740· OSTI ID:22252868
;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8550 (Japan)
  2. National Institute for Fusion Science, Gifu 509-5292 (Japan)

Turbulent transport caused by electron temperature gradient (ETG) modes was investigated by means of gyrokinetic simulations. It was found that the ETG turbulence can be regulated by meso-scale zonal flows driven by trapped electron modes (TEMs), which are excited with much smaller growth rates than those of ETG modes. The zonal flows of which radial wavelengths are in between the ion and the electron banana widths are not shielded by trapped ions nor electrons, and hence they are effectively driven by the TEMs. It was also shown that an E × B shearing rate of the TEM-driven zonal flows is larger than or comparable to the growth rates of long-wavelength ETG modes and TEMs, which make a main contribution to the turbulent transport before excitation of the zonal flows.

OSTI ID:
22252868
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English