A global solution of the ICRH problem based on the combined use of a planar coupling model and hot-plasma ray-tracing in tokamak geometry

The global solution of the theoretical problem of Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating in tokamak plasmas is obtained by a subdivision of the problem into two simpler ones by virtue of the ''single pass absorption'' hypothesis. The coupling problem is solved in planar geometry, allowing computation of both the antenna electrical properties and the Radio-Frequency (RF) field distribution in the plasma facing the antenna. Starting from this field distribution, the initial conditions for ray-tracing are derived and the propagation and absorption of waves in the plasma bulk is solved in the geometric optics limit taking into account the full tokamak geometry and the kinetic wave description. In the minority heating, redistribution of the minority absorbed power to the other species is carred out using standard quasilinear theory. (orig.)