Observation of thick toroidal filaments during the disruptive phase of Aditya tokamak plasma

Major disruptions in Aditya tokamak are initiated by the growth and subsequent locking of m/n = 2/1 and 3/1 tearing modes, which leads to the thermal quench of the plasma. Thick filaments are seen to evolve at the low field side (LFS) of the plasma column following the thermal quench, and during the current quench. The number of filaments and inter filament spacing are observed to be related with the plasma stored energy just prior to the disruption. Rapid enhancement of the outward particle flux is seen during the thermal quench phase and the plasma conductivity reduces considerably. Interchange modes, with low poloidal wavenumber, are inferred to grow due to the reduced plasma conductivity and enhanced effective diffusivity. This may be a plausible explanation for the visualization of the thick filaments at the LFS.