Analytic slowing-down distributions as modified by turbulent transport

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6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effect of electrostatic microturbulence on fast particles rapidly decreases at high energy, but can be significant at moderate energy. Previous studies found that, in addition to changes in the energetic particle density, this results in non-trivial changes to the equilibrium velocity distribution. These effects have implications for plasma heating and the stability of Alfvén eigenmodes, but make multiscale simulations much more difficult without further approximations. Here, several related analytic model distribution functions are derived from first principles. A single dimensionless parameter characterizes the relative strength of turbulence relative to collisions, and this parameter appears as an exponent in the model distribution functions. Even the most simple of these models reproduces key features of the numerical phase-space transport solution and provides a useful a priori heuristic for determining how strong the effect of turbulence is on the redistribution of energetic particles in toroidal plasmas.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number745840601
JournalJournal of Plasma Physics
Volume84
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2018
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Condensed Matter Physics

Keywords

  • Fusion plasma
  • Plasma confinement
  • Plasma heating

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