Turbulent anti-resistivity and the zonal magnetic field dynamo in drift-ballooning turbulence
- Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742 (United States)
The effect of turbulent fluctuations on the zonal (flux surface averaged) magnetic field in drift-ballooning turbulence is shown to be equivalent to a turbulent anti-resistivity. The flux surface average of the convective nonlinearity in Ohm's law is proportional to the flux surface average of the current. The coefficient of proportionality can be defined as a turbulent resistivity {eta}{sub turb}. The correlation of the flux surface average of the convective nonlinearity with the negative of the flux surface average of the current is nearly 100%. Because the convective nonlinearity is correlated with the negative of the current, and not the current, the turbulent resistivity is negative. The magnitude of {eta}{sub turb} is virtually identical to the magnitude of the collisional resistivity {eta}, but opposite in sign, so that the total resistivity {eta}{sub total}={eta}+{eta}{sub turb} is nearly zero. The effect of the fluctuations is to balance the effect of collisional resistive diffusion. As a result, while the energy in the zonal flow increases to a large value as the fluctuations grow and saturate, the energy in the zonal magnetic field remains very small.
- OSTI ID:
- 21069890
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 14, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2805741; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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