Finite system size effects on drift wave stability

Journal Article · Sat Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4864327· OSTI ID:22252050

Militello, F. ^[1]; Ottaviani, M. ^[2]; Wynn, A. ^[3]

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1. EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom)
2. CEA, IRFM, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France)
3. Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London (United Kingdom)

Unstable electrostatic resistive modes, driven by density gradients, are identified in a bounded sheared slab. The boundary conditions play a crucial role and are shown to change the nature of the problem, which is related to so called “universal” mode. The dispersion relation and the structure of the eigenmodes of the instability are derived and are shown to depend on a limited set of dimensionless parameters. The occurrence and possible impact of these modes on numerical simulations and actual plasmas are discussed.

• OSTI ID: 22252050
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2014 Euratom; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DISPERSION RELATIONS
INSTABILITY
PLASMA
SHEAR
SLABS
WAVE PROPAGATION