Naohiro Kasuya

Initial results from the TST-2 spherical tokamak

A new spherical tokamak, TST-2, was constructed at the University of Tokyo and started operation in September 1999. Reliable plasma initiation is achieved with typically 1 kW of ECH power at 2.45 GHz. Plasma currents of up to 90 kA and toroidal fields of up to 0.2 T have been achieved during the initial experimental campaign. The ion temperature is typically 100 eV. Internal reconnection events are often observed. The internal magnetic field measured at r/a = 2/3 indicated growth of fluctuations up to the fourth harmonic, suggesting the existence of modes with several different mode numbers. In the presence of a toroidal field and a vertical field with positive curvature, non-inductively driven currents of the order of 1 kA were observed with 1 kW of ECH power. The driven current increased with decreasing filling pressure, down to 4 × 10-4Pa. A study of high harmonic fast wave excitation and propagation has begun. Initial results indicate highly efficient wave launching. The spatial distribution of the RF magnetic field was qualitatively consistent with the result of a full-wave calculation.

How is turbulence intensity determined by macroscopic variables in a toroidal plasma

We report observations of the dynamic response of micro-fluctuations and turbulent flux to a low-frequency heating power modulation in the Large Helical Device. The responses of heat flux and micro-fluctuation intensity differ from that of the change in temperature gradient. This result violates the local transport model, where turbulence is determined by the local temperature gradient. A new relationship between flux, gradient and turbulence is found. In addition to the temperature gradient, the heating rate is proposed as a new, direct controlling parameter of turbulence to explain the fast response of turbulence against periodic modulation of heating power.

Selective formation of turbulent structures in magnetized cylindrical plasmas

The mechanism of nonlinear structural formation has been studied with a three-field reduced fluid model, which is extended to describe the resistive drift wave turbulence in magnetized cylindrical plasmas. In this model, ion-neutral collisions strongly stabilize the resistive drift wave, and the formed structure depends on the collision frequency. If the collision frequency is small, modulational coupling of unstable modes generates a zonal flow. On the other hand, if the collision frequency is large, a streamer, which is a localized vortex in the azimuthal direction, is formed. The structure is generated by nonlinear wave coupling and is sustained for a much longer duration than the drift wave oscillation period. This is a minimal model for analyzing the turbulent structural formation mechanism by mode coupling in cylindrical plasmas, and the competitive nature of structural formation is revealed. These turbulent structures affect particle transport.

Numerical simulation of resistive drift wave turbulence in a linear device

The three-field reduced MHD model was extended to describe the resistive drift wave turbulence in cylindrical magnetized plasmas. Using this model, linear eigenmode analyses are performed to identify the unstable modes, and the parameter scan predicts the necessary condition for excitation of the resistive drift wave turbulence. It is found that ion–neutral collisions strongly stabilize the resistive drift wave, and give a threshold condition for the turbulence excitation. Nonlinear simulations clarify the stabilizing effects of the quasi-linear flattening of the density profile and of the generated mean potential profile. It is pointed out that the parallel nonlinearity is important in the formation of a potential structure, which plays an essential role in mode saturation.

A Concept of Cross-Ferroic Plasma Turbulence

The variety of scalar and vector fields in laboratory and nature plasmas is formed by plasma turbulence. Drift-wave fluctuations, driven by density gradients in magnetized plasmas, are known to relax the density gradient while they can generate flows. On the other hand, the sheared flow in the direction of magnetic fields causes Kelvin-Helmholtz type instabilities, which mix particle and momentum. These different types of fluctuations coexist in laboratory and nature, so that the multiple mechanisms for structural formation exist in extremely non-equilibrium plasmas. Here we report the discovery of a new order in plasma turbulence, in which chained structure formation is realized by cross-interaction between inhomogeneities of scalar and vector fields. The concept of cross-ferroic turbulence is developed, and the causal relation in the multiple mechanisms behind structural formation is identified, by measuring the relaxation rate and dissipation power caused by the complex turbulence-driven flux.

Two-dimensional bispectral analysis of drift wave turbulence in a cylindrical plasma

Bispectral analysis and multichannel measurement are becoming attractive investigation tools in plasma fluctuation studies. In the Large Mirror Device-Upgrade, the measurement of fluctuations in the ion saturation-current with a 64-channel poloidal Langmuir probe array was performed. The two-dimensional (2D) (poloidal wave number and frequency) power spectrum showed a number of pronounced peaks and broadband fluctuations in the poloidal wave number-frequency space. We applied 2D bispectral analysis, which considers both the matching conditions of poloidal wave number and frequency, to the spatiotemporal waveform, and confirmed the nonlinear couplings between coherent-coherent, coherent-broadband, and broadband-broadband fluctuation components. More than ten peaks were revealed to have as their origins only three original parent modes generated in the plasma. Comparison between the theoretical estimate and experimental observation for the bicoherence showed good agreement.

Dynamics of edge limit cycle oscillation in the JFT-2M Tokamak

In the JFT-2M tokamak (JFT standing for JAERI Fusion Torus), the limit cycle oscillation (LCO), together with several variables, i.e., the electrostatic potential, radial electric field, electron density, turbulence intensity, and Dα emission from the divertor region, is observed before the L-to-H transition. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the LCO is analysed in detail. Zonal flows are not seen, while modulation is observed in the edge-localized poloidal flow and density gradient. Modulation is also seen in the Reynolds stress, caused by that in the turbulence intensity and turbulence wavenumber. However, flow acceleration cannot be explained by the modulation in the Reynolds stress. Rapid inward propagation is also observed for the density gradient and turbulence packet. The characteristics of the propagation are verified by means of turbulence spreading theory and diffusion theory.

Non-Gaussian properties of global momentum and particle fluxes in a cylindrical laboratory plasma

Non-Gaussian statistical properties of the azimuthally averaged momentum and particle fluxes driven by turbulence have been simultaneously observed in inhomogeneous magnetized plasmas for the first time. We identified the stretched Gaussian distribution of the both fluxes and the transition from the point-wise distribution to averaged ones was confirmed. The change of the particle flux precedes that of the momentum flux, demonstrating that the momentum flux is induced by the relaxation of density gradient.

On the spatial structure of solitary radial electric field at the plasma edge in toroidal confinement devices

The solitary radial electric field in the edge of toroidal plasma is studied based on the electric field bifurcation model. Results are applied to tokamak and helical plasmas, and the dependence of the electric field structure on the plasma parameters and geometrical factors is analyzed. The order of magnitude estimate for tokamak plasma is not far from experimental observations. It is shown that, in helical plasmas, the height of electric field structure is reduced substantially owing to the ripple particle transport, while the width is influenced less. The implications of the results for the limit of achievable gradient in the H-mode pedestal are also discussed.

Coexistence of zonal flows and drift-waves in a cylindrical magnetized plasma

Spatiotemporal structures of fluctuations with frequencies lower than the ion cyclotron frequency in a cylindrical magnetized plasma are investigated. Drift-wave and low-frequency zonal flow coexist. Electrostatic potentials of the zonal flow and the drift-wave are distributed widely in radius. The radial wave number profile of the zonal flow has a shear structure at the radial location where the drift-wave has a maximal normalized fluctuation amplitude. On the other hand, the radial wave number profile of the drift-wave shows vortex tilting, resulting in the generation of stationary turbulence Reynolds stress gradient per mass density. The envelope and bispectral analyses indicate significant nonlinear interactions between the zonal flow and the drift-wave.