Microtearing stability and turbulence in the pedestal: Linear gyrokinetics, reduced models, and nonlinear turbulent transport

Hamed, Myriam; Hatch, D. R.; Pueschel, M. J.; Jitsuk, T.

doi:10.1063/5.0274287

Microtearing stability and turbulence in the pedestal: Linear gyrokinetics, reduced models, and nonlinear turbulent transport

Journal Article · Thu Sep 18 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0274287· OSTI ID:2997739

^[1]; ^[1]; Pueschel, M. J. ^[2]; ^[3]

The University of Texas at Austin, TX (United States)
Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, Eindhoven (The Netherlands); Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands)
Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, Eindhoven (The Netherlands)

Microtearing modes can play a crucial role in electron heat transport in tokamak plasmas, affecting both energy confinement and overall performance. This study investigates microtearing modes (MTM) stability and turbulence in a JET pedestal through gyrokinetic simulations using the Gene code, complemented by a reduced eigenvalue model. The focus is on how MTM properties depend on key plasma parameters, including collisionality and plasma beta β—the ratio of plasma pressure to magnetic pressure—the normalized toroidal wavenumber k_yρ_s⁠, where ρ_s denotes the ion sound gyroradius (typically a few millimeters in edge plasmas) and isotope mass. Collisionality enhances MT growth rates, while increasing β leads to a shift from MTMs to kinetic-ballooning modes, typically for k_yρ_s⁠, where ρ_s ≲ 0.2⁠. A purely collisionless branch of MTMs persists at low k_yρ_s⁠, where ρ_s with distinctive properties including non-negligible particle flux and ion thermal transport. Isotope mass scans reveal modest reduction of MTM growth rates as ion mass decreases. Nonlinear simulations produce experimentally relevant transport levels. Numerical experiments turning off zonal flows and fields identify the critical role of zonal flows and zonal fields in regulating MTM turbulence. Their removal leads to a significant increase in electron heat flux. These findings provide new insight into MTM-driven transport and its impact on tokamak confinement and lay a foundation for reduced modeling and predictive capabilities.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: The University of Texas at Austin, TX (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: EUROfusion Consortium; USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-04ER54742

OSTI ID:: 2997739

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 32; ISSN 1070-664X; ISSN 1089-7674

Publisher:: AIP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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