Published March 2010 | Version v1
Journal article

Intrinsic rotation of a magnetic island with finite width

  • 1. National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

Description

The rotation direction of a magnetic island in the saturation regime and the underlying physical mechanism are numerically investigated based on a four-field model that includes the effects of both ion and electron diamagnetic drifts as well as parallel ion motion. It is found that diamagnetic effects vanish inside the island, and that the rotation direction is determined by nonlinearly generated zonal flow. The direction of zonal flow is sensitive to the viscosity and the finite Larmor radius (FLR) effect. The radial mode structure of zonal flow is found to be deformed by that of other modes as the viscosity increases. We have also shown that the FLR effect enhances island rotation toward the ion diamagnetic drift direction through energy transfer to the zonal flow by a nonlinear ion diamagnetic stress tensor. (author)

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1585/pfr.5.S1016

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Plasma and Fusion Research
Journal Volume
5
Journal Page Range
p. S1016.1-S1016.6
ISSN
1880-6821

Conference

Title
18. international conference on development of physics and technology of stellarators/heliotrons, 'en route to DEMO'
Dates
9-12 Dec 2008
Place
Toki, Gifu (Japan)

Optional Information

Notes
8 refs., 9 figs.