ISSN:
1089-7674
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
A mechanism is proposed and evaluated for driving rotation in tokamak plasmas by minority ion-cyclotron heating, even though this heating introduces negligible angular momentum. The mechanism has two elements: First, angular momentum transport is governed by a diffusion equation with a boundary condition at the separatrix. Second, Monte Carlo calculations show that ion-cyclotron energized particles will provide a torque density source which has a zero volume integral but separated positive and negative regions. With such a source, a solution of the diffusion equation predicts that ion-cyclotron heating will cause a rotational shear layer to develop. The corresponding jump in plasma rotation ΔΩ is found to be negative outwards when the ion-cyclotron surface lies on the low-field side of the magnetic axis and positive outwards with the resonance on the high-field side. The magnitude of the jump ΔΩ=(4qmaxWJ2*) (eBR3a2ne(2π)2)−1(τM/τE) where |J2*|(approximate)2–4 is a nondimensional rotation frequency calculated by the Monte Carlo ORBIT code [R. B. White and M. S. Chance, Phys. Fluids 27, 2455 (1984)]. For a no-slip boundary condition when the resonance lies on the low-field side of the magnetic axis, the sense of predicted axial rotation is co-current and overall agreement with experiment is good. When the resonance lies on the high-field side, the predicted rotation becomes countercurrent for a no-slip boundary while the observed rotation remains co-current. The rotational shear layer position is controllable and of sufficient magnitude to affect microinstabilities. © 2001 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1362535
