Suppression of drift wave turbulence and zonal flow formation by changing axial boundary conditions in a cylindrical magnetized plasma device

For drift wave turbulence, due to charge conservation, the divergence of the parallel current is coupled to the divergence of the perpendicular polarization current, which determines the effective radial momentum flux, i.e., the Reynolds stress. Changes in the current flow patterns also affect the nonlinear energy transfer from smaller to larger scales. Here, we show that by changing the end plate boundary conditions in a cylindrical plasma device, the radial currents through the plasma and hence the net momentum transport and the nonlinear coupling for the inverse energy transfer are strongly modified. The transition to drift wave turbulence and the formation of low frequency zonal flows can be either suppressed with conducting boundaries or enhanced with insulating boundaries.