Bicoherence analysis of streamer dynamics induced by trapped ion modes

Francesco Palermo (1, 2) , Xavier Garbet (2) , Alain Ghizzo (3)

1 LMFA - Laboratoire de Mecanique des Fluides et d'Acoustique
2 IRFM - Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion par confinement Magnétique
3 IJL - Institut Jean Lamour

High order spectral analyses have recently attracted a great deal of attention in the context of experimental studies for magnetic fusion. Among these techniques, bicoherence analysis plays an important role as it allows distinguishing between spontaneously excited waves and waves that arise from a coupling between different modes linked to specific physical mechanisms. Here, we describe and apply bicoherence analysis to kinetic simulations performed with reduced ``bounce-averaged gyrokinetic'' code, in order to investigate the nonlinear dynamics of trapped ion modes. This analysis shows a nonlinear wave coupling process linked to the formation of convective cells, thus furthers our understanding of the nonlinear energy transfer between turbulence structures in tokamaks.

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

Francesco Palermo, Xavier Garbet, Alain Ghizzo. Bicoherence analysis of streamer dynamics induced by trapped ion modes. The European Physical Journal D : Atomic, molecular, optical and plasma physics, 2015, 69 (1), pp.8 - 8. ⟨10.1140/epjd/e2014-50240-2⟩. ⟨hal-01285763⟩