Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Energetic ion transport by microturbulence is insignificant in tokamaks

  • D. C. Pace
  • , M. E. Austin
  • , E. M. Bass
  • , R. V. Budny
  • , W. W. Heidbrink
  • , J. C. Hillesheim
  • , C. T. Holcomb
  • , M. Gorelenkova
  • , B. A. Grierson
  • , D. C. McCune
  • , G. R. McKee
  • , C. M. Muscatello
  • , J. M. Park
  • , C. C. Petty
  • , T. L. Rhodes
  • , G. M. Staebler
  • , T. Suzuki
  • , M. A. Van Zeeland
  • , R. E. Waltz
  • , G. Wang
  • A. E. White, Z. Yan, X. Yuan, Y. B. Zhu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Energetic ion transport due to microturbulence is investigated in magnetohydrodynamic-quiescent plasmas by way of neutral beam injection in the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion 42, 614 (2002)]. A range of on-axis and off-axis beam injection scenarios are employed to vary relevant parameters such as the character of the background microturbulence and the value of E b / T e, where Eb is the energetic ion energy and Te the electron temperature. In all cases, it is found that any transport enhancement due to microturbulence is too small to observe experimentally. These transport effects are modeled using numerical and analytic expectations that calculate the energetic ion diffusivity due to microturbulence. It is determined that energetic ion transport due to coherent fluctuations (e.g., Alfvén eigenmodes) is a considerably larger effect and should therefore be considered more important for ITER.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number056108
JournalPhysics of Plasmas
Volume20
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Condensed Matter Physics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Energetic ion transport by microturbulence is insignificant in tokamaks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this