Edge gyrokinetic theory and continuum simulations

The following results are presented from the development and application of TEMPEST, a fully nonlinear (full-f) five-dimensional (3d2v) gyrokinetic continuum edge-plasma code. (1) As a test of the interaction of collisions and parallel streaming, TEMPEST is compared with published analytic and numerical results for endloss of particles confined by combined electrostatic and magnetic wells. Good agreement is found over a wide range of collisionality, confining potential and mirror ratio, and the required velocity space resolution is modest. (2) In a large-aspect-ratio circular geometry, excellent agreement is found for a neoclassical equilibrium with parallel ion flow in the banana regime with zero temperature gradient and radial electric field. (3) The four-dimensional (2d2v) version of the code produces the first self-consistent simulation results of collisionless damping of geodesic acoustic modes and zonal flow (Rosenbluth-Hinton residual) with Boltzmann electrons using a full-f code. The electric field is also found to agree with the standard neoclassical expression for steep density and ion temperature gradients in the plateau regime. In divertor geometry, it is found that the endloss of particles and energy induces parallel flow stronger than the core neoclassical predictions in the SOL.