Magnetohydrodynamic stability of tokamak edge plasmas

J. W. Connor; R. J. Hastie; H. R. Wilson; R. L. Miller

doi:10.1063/1.872956

Magnetohydrodynamic stability of tokamak edge plasmas

J. W. Connor, R. J. Hastie, H. R. Wilson, R. L. Miller

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417 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new formalism for analyzing the magnetohydrodynamic stability of a limiter tokamak edge plasma is developed. Two radially localized, high toroidal mode number n instabilities are studied in detail: a peeling mode and an edge ballooning mode. The peeling mode, driven by edge current density and stabilized by edge pressure gradient, has features which are consistent with several properties of tokamak behavior in the high confinement "H" -mode of operation, and edge localized modes (or ELMs) in particular. The edge ballooning mode, driven by the pressure gradient, is identified; this penetrates ∼ n^1/3 rational surfaces into the plasma (rather than ∼n^1/2, expected from conventional ballooning mode theory). Furthermore, there exists a coupling between these two modes and this coupling provides a picture of the ELM cycle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2687-2700
Number of pages	14
Journal	Physics of Plasmas
Volume	5
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.872956
State	Published - 1998
Externally published	Yes

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title = "Magnetohydrodynamic stability of tokamak edge plasmas",

abstract = "A new formalism for analyzing the magnetohydrodynamic stability of a limiter tokamak edge plasma is developed. Two radially localized, high toroidal mode number n instabilities are studied in detail: a peeling mode and an edge ballooning mode. The peeling mode, driven by edge current density and stabilized by edge pressure gradient, has features which are consistent with several properties of tokamak behavior in the high confinement {"}H{"} -mode of operation, and edge localized modes (or ELMs) in particular. The edge ballooning mode, driven by the pressure gradient, is identified; this penetrates ∼ n1/3 rational surfaces into the plasma (rather than ∼n1/2, expected from conventional ballooning mode theory). Furthermore, there exists a coupling between these two modes and this coupling provides a picture of the ELM cycle.",

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T1 - Magnetohydrodynamic stability of tokamak edge plasmas

AU - Connor, J. W.

AU - Hastie, R. J.

AU - Wilson, H. R.

AU - Miller, R. L.

PY - 1998

Y1 - 1998

N2 - A new formalism for analyzing the magnetohydrodynamic stability of a limiter tokamak edge plasma is developed. Two radially localized, high toroidal mode number n instabilities are studied in detail: a peeling mode and an edge ballooning mode. The peeling mode, driven by edge current density and stabilized by edge pressure gradient, has features which are consistent with several properties of tokamak behavior in the high confinement "H" -mode of operation, and edge localized modes (or ELMs) in particular. The edge ballooning mode, driven by the pressure gradient, is identified; this penetrates ∼ n1/3 rational surfaces into the plasma (rather than ∼n1/2, expected from conventional ballooning mode theory). Furthermore, there exists a coupling between these two modes and this coupling provides a picture of the ELM cycle.

AB - A new formalism for analyzing the magnetohydrodynamic stability of a limiter tokamak edge plasma is developed. Two radially localized, high toroidal mode number n instabilities are studied in detail: a peeling mode and an edge ballooning mode. The peeling mode, driven by edge current density and stabilized by edge pressure gradient, has features which are consistent with several properties of tokamak behavior in the high confinement "H" -mode of operation, and edge localized modes (or ELMs) in particular. The edge ballooning mode, driven by the pressure gradient, is identified; this penetrates ∼ n1/3 rational surfaces into the plasma (rather than ∼n1/2, expected from conventional ballooning mode theory). Furthermore, there exists a coupling between these two modes and this coupling provides a picture of the ELM cycle.

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Magnetohydrodynamic stability of tokamak edge plasmas

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