Three-Dimensional Drift Kinetic Response of High-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ Plasmas in the DIII-D Tokamak

Three-Dimensional Drift Kinetic Response of High- $β$ Plasmas in the DIII-D Tokamak

Z. R. Wang, M. J. Lanctot, Y. Q. Liu, J-K. Park, and J. E. Menard

Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 145005 – Published 7 April 2015

Abstract

A quantitative interpretation of the experimentally measured high-pressure plasma response to externally applied three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field perturbations, across the no-wall Troyon $β$ limit, is achieved. The self-consistent inclusion of the drift kinetic effects in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling [Y. Q. Liu et al., Phys. Plasmas 15, 112503 (2008)] successfully resolves an outstanding issue of the ideal MHD model, which significantly overpredicts the plasma-induced field amplification near the no-wall limit, as compared to experiments. The model leads to quantitative agreement not only for the measured field amplitude and toroidal phase but also for the measured internal 3D displacement of the plasma. The results can be important to the prediction of the reliable plasma behavior in advanced fusion devices, such as ITER [K. Ikeda, Nucl. Fusion 47, S1 (2007)].

Received 26 September 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.145005

Authors & Affiliations

Z. R. Wang¹, M. J. Lanctot², Y. Q. Liu³, J-K. Park¹, and J. E. Menard¹

¹Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA
²General Atomics, PO Box 85608, San Diego, California 92186-5608, USA
³Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom