Streamer-induced transport in the presence of trapped ion modes in tokamak plasmas

A. Ghizzo (1) , D. del Sarto (1) , X. Garbet (2) , Y. Sarazin (2)

1 IJL - Institut Jean Lamour
2 IRFM - Institut de Recherche sur la Fusion par confinement Magnétique

Global gyrokinetic Vlasov simulations for trapped ion modes are performed by solving a Vlasov equation averaged over the cyclotron and bounce motions of trapped ions. The distribution function, for trapped ions, is then calculated in a two-dimensional phase space, parametrized by the longitudinal action (energy) and the magnetic moment in presence of magnetic shear. The physical mechanism of the saturation processes between streamerlike structures and zonal flows in relation to the suppression of turbulent transport is discussed. The magnetic shear is identified to play a key role in the dominant streamer-induced transport regime, which exhibits a Bohm-like scaling. The interaction of streamerlike structures with plasma turbulence is shown to produce the inverse cascade that condenses onto long-wavelength trapped ion structures, on the basis on wave triad interactions.

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

A. Ghizzo, D. del Sarto, X. Garbet, Y. Sarazin. Streamer-induced transport in the presence of trapped ion modes in tokamak plasmas. Physics of Plasmas, 2010, 17 (9), pp.092501. ⟨10.1063/1.3474955⟩. ⟨hal-01791697⟩