Guiding center equations for ideal magnetohydrodynamic modes
- Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)
Guiding center simulations are routinely used for the discovery of mode-particle resonances in tokamaks, for both resistive and ideal instabilities and to find modifications of particle distributions caused by a given spectrum of modes, including large scale avalanches during events with a number of large amplitude modes. One of the most fundamental properties of ideal magnetohydrodynamics is the condition that plasma motion cannot change magnetic topology. The conventional representation of ideal magnetohydrodynamic modes by perturbing a toroidal equilibrium field through {delta}B-vector={nabla} Multiplication-Sign ({xi}-vector Multiplication-Sign B-vector), however, perturbs the magnetic topology, introducing extraneous magnetic islands in the field. A proper treatment of an ideal perturbation involves a full Lagrangian displacement of the field due to the perturbation and conserves magnetic topology as it should. In order to examine the effect of ideal magnetohydrodynamic modes on particle trajectories, the guiding center equations should include a correct Lagrangian treatment. Guiding center equations for an ideal displacement {xi}-vector are derived which preserve the magnetic topology and are used to examine mode particle resonances in toroidal confinement devices. These simulations are compared to others which are identical in all respects except that they use the linear representation for the field. Unlike the case for the magnetic field, the use of the linear field perturbation in the guiding center equations does not result in extraneous mode particle resonances.
- OSTI ID:
- 22130427
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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