Gyrokinetic studies of microinstabilities in the reversed field pinch
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)
An analytic equilibrium, the Toroidal Bessel Function Model, is used in conjunction with the gyrokinetic code GYRO to investigate the nature of microinstabilities in a reversed field pinch plasma. The effect of the normalized electron plasma pressure β on the characteristics of the microinstabilities is studied. At a β of 4.5%, a transition between an ion temperature gradient (ITG) and a microtearing mode is observed. Suppression of the ITG mode occurs as in the tokamak, through coupling to shear Alfvén waves, with a critical β for stability higher than its tokamak equivalent due to a shorter parallel connection length. A steep dependence of the microtearing growth rate on the temperature gradient suggests high profile stiffness. There is evidence for a collisionless microtearing mode. The properties of this mode are investigated, and it is found that electron curvature drift plays an important role in the instability.
- OSTI ID:
- 22218597
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 5; 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
Similar Records
Kinetic studies of microinstabilities in toroidal plasmas: Simulation and theory
Kinetic studies of microinstabilities in toroidal plasmas: Simulation and theory
Related Subjects
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALFVEN WAVES
BESSEL FUNCTIONS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ELECTRONS
FLEXIBILITY
G CODES
ION TEMPERATURE
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
PLASMA PRESSURE
REVERSED-FIELD PINCH DEVICES
REVERSE-FIELD PINCH
SHEAR
STABILITY
TEARING INSTABILITY
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS
TOKAMAK DEVICES