Observation of the m = 1 mode by microwave transmission measurements in the Tore Supra tokamak

Microwave transmission measurements in the Tore Supra tokamak exhibit low-frequency oscillations of the transmitted power, associated to the presence of a saturated m = 1, n = 1 mode, as observed by soft X-ray diagnostics. It is shown that these oscillations are related to refraction effects, and specifically to modulations of the electron density profile due to a rotating magnetic island. An analytical solution of the ray equations in the presence of a rotating density perturbation is found, explaining the frequency spectrum of the oscillations