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Title: Stochastic ion heating by a lower hybrid wave. II

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6159903· OSTI ID:6159903

The motion of an ion in a coherent lower hybrid wave (characterized by vertical bar/sub parallel/vertical bar much less than vertical bar kappa/sub perpendicular to/vertical bar and ..omega.. much greater than ..cap omega../sub i/) in a tokamak plasma is studied. For ions satisfying ..nu../sub perpendicular to/ > ..omega../kappa/sub perpendicular to/, the Lorentz force law for the ions is reduced to a set of difference equations which give the Larmor radius and phase of an ion on one cyclotron orbit in terms of these quantities a cyclotron period earlier. From these difference equations an earlier result (Phys. Fluids 21, 1584(1978)) that above a certain wave amplitude the ion motion is stochastic, is readily obtained. The stochasticity threshold is given a simple physical interpretation. In addition, the difference equations are used to derive a diffusion equation governing the heating of the ions above the stochasticity threshold. By including the effects of collisions, the heating rate for the bulk ions is obtained.

Research Organization:
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
EY-76-C-02-3073
OSTI ID:
6159903
Report Number(s):
PPPL-1528; TRN: 79-011927
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English