Turbulent Equipartition Theory of Toroidal Momentum Pinch

Conference · Thu Jan 31 04:00:00 EST 2008

OSTI ID:960371

The mode-independet part of magnetic curvature driven turbulent convective (TuroCo) pinch of the angular momentum density [Hahm et al., Phys. Plasmas 14,072302 (2007)] which was originally derived from the gyrokinetic equation, can be interpreted in terms of the turbulent equipartition (TEP) theory. It is shown that the previous results can be obtained from the local conservation of "magnetically weighted angular momentum density," nmi U|| R/B2, and its homogenization due to turbulent flows. It is also demonstrated that the magnetic curvature modification of the parallel acceleration in the nonlinear gyrokinetic equation in the laboratory frame, which was shown to be responsible for the TEP part of the TurCo pinch of angular momentum density in the previous work, is closely related to the Coriolis drift coupling to the perturbed electric field. In addition, the origin of the diffusive flux in the rotating frame is highlighted. Finally, it is illustratd that there should be a difference in scalings between the momentum pinch originated from inherently toroidal effects and that coming from other mechanisms which exist in a simpler geometry.

• Research Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• OSTI ID: 960371
• Report Number(s): PPPL-4285
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ACCELERATION
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
ELECTRIC FIELDS
GEOMETRY
Gyrokinetic Equations
MODIFICATIONS
ORIGIN
PHYSICS
PLASMA
Rotating Plasmas
TURBULENT FLOW
Transport Theory