Shifting and Splitting of Resonance Lines due to Dynamical Friction in Plasmas.

A quasilinear plasma transport theory that incorporates Fokker-Planck dynamical friction (drag) and pitch angle scattering is self-consistently derived from first principles for an isolated, marginally unstable mode resonating with an energetic minority species. It is found that drag fundamentally changes the structure of the wave-particle resonance, breaking its symmetry and leading to the shifting and splitting of resonance lines. In contrast, scattering broadens the resonance in a symmetric fashion. Comparison with fully nonlinear simulations shows that the proposed quasilinear system preserves the exact instability saturation amplitude and the corresponding particle redistribution of the fully nonlinear theory. Even in situations in which drag leads to a relatively small resonance shift, it still underpins major changes in the redistribution of resonant particles. This novel influence of drag is equally important in plasmas and gravitational systems. In fusion plasmas, the effects are especially pronounced for fast-ion-driven instabilities in tokamaks with low aspect ratio or negative triangularity, as evidenced by past observations. The same theory directly maps to the resonant dynamics of the rotating galactic bar and massive bodies in its orbit, providing new techniques for analyzing galactic dynamics.

Suppression of Alfvén Modes on the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade with Outboard Beam Injection.

In this Letter we present data from experiments on the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade, where it is shown for the first time that small amounts of high pitch-angle beam ions can strongly suppress the counterpropagating global Alfvén eigenmodes (GAE). GAE have been implicated in the redistribution of fast ions and modification of the electron power balance in previous experiments on NSTX. The ability to predict the stability of Alfvén modes, and developing methods to control them, is important for fusion reactors like the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor, which are heated by a large population of nonthermal, super-Alfvénic ions consisting of fusion generated α's and beam ions injected for current profile control. We present a qualitative interpretation of these observations using an analytic model of the Doppler-shifted ion-cyclotron resonance drive responsible for GAE instability which has an important dependence on k_{⊥}ρ_{L}. A quantitative analysis of this data with the hym stability code predicts both the frequencies and instability of the GAE prior to, and suppression of the GAE after the injection of high pitch-angle beam ions.

Coupling of Neutral-Beam-Driven Compressional Alfvén Eigenmodes to Kinetic Alfvén Waves in NSTX Tokamak and Energy Channeling.

An energy-channeling mechanism is proposed to explain flattening of the electron temperature profiles at a high beam power in the beam-heated National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). Results of self-consistent simulations of neutral-beam-driven compressional Alfvén eigenmodes (CAEs) in NSTX are presented that demonstrate strong coupling of CAEs to kinetic Alfvén waves at the Alfvén resonance location. It is suggested that CAEs can channel energy from the beam ions to the location of the resonant mode conversion at the edge of the beam density profile, modifying the energy deposition profile.

Intense geodesic acousticlike modes driven by suprathermal ions in a tokamak plasma.

Intense axisymmetric oscillations driven by suprathermal ions injected in the direction counter to the toroidal plasma current are observed in the DIII-D tokamak. The modes appear at nearly half the ideal geodesic acoustic mode frequency, in plasmas with comparable electron and ion temperatures and elevated magnetic safety factor (q_{min}>or=2). Strong bursting and frequency chirping are observed, concomitant with large (10%-15%) drops in the neutron emission. Large electron density fluctuations (n[over ]_{e}/n_{e} approximately 1.5%) are observed with no detectable electron temperature fluctuations, confirming a dominant compressional contribution to the pressure perturbation as predicted by kinetic theory. The observed mode frequency is consistent with a recent theoretical prediction for the energetic-particle-driven geodesic acoustic mode.

Anomalous flattening of the fast-ion profile during Alfvén-Eigenmode activity.

Neutral-beam injection into plasmas with negative central shear produces a rich spectrum of toroidicity-induced and reversed-shear Alfvén eigenmodes in the DIII-D tokamak. The first application of fast-ion D_{alpha} (FIDA) spectroscopy to Alfvén-eigenmode physics shows that the central fast-ion profile is anomalously flat in the inner half of the discharge. Neutron and equilibrium measurements corroborate the FIDA data. The current density driven by fast ions is also strongly modified. Calculations based on the measured mode amplitudes do not explain the observed fast-ion transport.

Multitude of core-localized shear Alfvén waves in a high-temperature fusion plasma.

Evidence is presented for a multitude of discrete frequency Alfvén waves in the core of magnetically confined high-temperature fusion plasmas. Multiple diagnostic instruments confirm wave excitation over a wide spatial range from the device size at the longest wavelengths down to the thermal ion Larmor radius. At the shortest scales, the poloidal wavelengths are comparable to the scale length of electrostatic drift wave turbulence. Theoretical analysis confirms a dominant interaction of the modes with particles in the thermal ion distribution traveling well below the Alfvén velocity.

Double-gap Alfvén eigenmodes: revisiting eigenmode interaction with the alfvén continuum.

A new type of global shear Alfvén eigenmode is found in tokamak plasmas where the mode localization is in the region intersecting the Alfvén continuum. The eigenmode is formed by the coupling of two solutions from two adjacent gaps (akin to potential wells) in the shear Alfvén continuum. For tokamak plasmas with reversed magnetic shear, it is shown that the toroidicity-induced solution tunnels through the continuum to match the ellipticity-induced Alfvén eigenmode so that the resulting solution is continuous at the point of resonance with the continuum. The existence of these double-gap Alfvén eigenmodes allows for potentially new ways of coupling edge fields to the plasma core in conditions where the core region is conventionally considered inaccessible. Implications include new approaches to heating and current drive in fusion plasmas as well as its possible use as a core diagnostic in burning plasmas.

Observation of odd toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes.

Experimental evidence is presented for the existence of the theoretically predicted odd toroidicity induced Alfvén eigenmode (TAE) from the simultaneous appearance of odd and even TAEs in a normal shear discharge of the joint European torus. The modes are observed in low central magnetic shear plasmas created by injecting lower hybrid current drive. A fast ion population was created by applying ion cyclotron heating at the high-field side to excite the TAEs. The odd TAEs were identified from their frequency, mode number, and timing relative to the even TAEs.

New interpretation of alpha-particle-driven instabilities in deuterium-tritium experiments on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor.

The original description of alpha particle driven instabilities in the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor in terms of toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) remained inconsistent with three fundamental characteristics of the observations: (i) the variation of the mode frequency with toroidal mode number, (ii) the chirping of the mode frequency for a given toroidal mode number, and (iii) the antiballooning density perturbation of the modes. It is now shown that these characteristics can be explained by observing that cylindrical-like modes can exist in the weak magnetic shear region of the plasma that then make a transition to TAEs as the central safety factor decreases in time.

Ion heating by fast-particle-induced Alfvén turbulence.

A novel mechanism that directly transfers energy from super-Alfvénic energetic ions to thermal ions in high- beta plasmas is described. The mechanism involves the excitation of compressional Alfvén eigenmodes in the frequency range with omega less than approximetely omega(ci). The broadband turbulence resulting from the large number of excited modes causes stochastic diffusion in velocity space, which transfers wave energy to thermal ions. This effect may be important on National Spherical Torus Experiment [M. Ono et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)] and may scale up to reactor scenarios. This has important implications for low-aspect-ratio reactor concepts, since it potentially allows for increased fusion reactivity in such a device.