S. Sesnic

ß scaling for the onset of neoclassical tearing modes at ASDEX Upgrade

The βp value for the onset of the neoclassical (3, 2) tearing mode at ASDEX Upgrade is found to be proportional to the ion gyro-radius as proposed in the ion polarization model. This scaling law has been proven by varying the ion temperature, the magnetic field and the mass of the plasma ions.

Magnetohydrodynamic behaviour during core transport barrier experiments with ion Bernstein wave heating in PBX-M: II n = m - 1 and n = m modes

Two new types of high frequency (HF) MHD mode activity are observed when a core transport barrier is formed during ion Bernstein wave (IBW) heating in PBX-M. These modes, localized in the core transport barrier, seem to be mainly responsible for the soft saturation in the strength of the core transport barrier. The two types of HF mode activity are determined by the presence or absence of a strong 1/1 mode. The n = m modes are observed with the 1/1 mode, while the n = m - 1 modes are seen when the 1/1 mode is absent. The m numbers of both of these modes vary between 4 and 13. They all seem to be coupled and rotate as a rigid body. The n = m - 1 modes seemed to be narrowly localized on their corresponding rational surface, i.e. q = m/(m - 1). The modes are ballooning-like, and their amplitudes increase with increasing β. Calculations with the CASTOR code show that the n = m - 1 modes are most probably pressure driven tearing modes, but the possibility of kinetic ballooning modes (KBMs) cannot be fully excluded. The n = m modes appear on or around the q = 1 surface, and are localized at the X point of the 1/1 mode island. The frequency offset of the n = m modes, which is too low for a TAE, is shown to be consistent with β-induced toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (BAEs).

Magnetohydrodynamic behaviour during core transport barrier experiments with ion Bernstein wave heating in PBX-M: I ELMs, fluctuations and crash events

If the ion Bernstein wave (IBW) heating power in an H mode discharge of the PBX-M experiment exceeds a threshold power of about 200 kW, a core transport barrier is created in the central region of the plasma. At lower neutral beam injection (NBI) powers, the core barrier is accompanied by an edge L mode. The high edge localized mode (ELM) repetition frequency (1 kHz) prevents the creation of a strong barrier, so the edge first has to make an H-to-L transition before a strong core transport barrier can be created. At higher NBI powers, the ELM repetition frequency is lowered to less than 200 Hz, which allows the immediate creation of a strong core barrier. Edge localized mode loss, which propagates radially first on a fast (non-diffusive) and then on a slow (diffusive) time-scale all the way to the plasma core, is strongly reduced in the core barrier region. Correlated with the reduced ELM loss, the fluctuations in the core barrier region are also strongly reduced, both during the ELM and during the quiet periods between the ELMs. There is strong evidence that the IBW induced poloidal flow shear is responsible for the stabilization of core turbulence and the creation of the core transport barrier. The large perpendicular E ? B flow shear component of the measured toroidal velocity in co-injection neutral beam heated discharges seems to be largely cancelled by the ion diamagnetic drift shear produced by large ion pressure gradients in the core barrier region. The value of IBW induced poloidal flow has not been experimentally determined, but its numerical value is found to be a factor of 4 larger than either the toroidal velocity or the ion diamagnetic drift shear components, leaving only IBW induced flow shear as the most probable cause for the turbulence stabilization. The core turbulence suppression and the creation of the core transport barrier is also consistent with expectations from a comparison between the E ? B flow shear rate and a rough estimate of the linear ion temperature gradient (ITG) growth rate. The presence of the core barrier region also strongly modifies the other MHD events: crashes on the q = 1.5, 2 surfaces and the disruption.