Global particle-in-cell simulations of plasma pressure effects on Alfvenic modes

Global linear gyrokinetic particle-in-cell simulations of electromagnetic modes in realistic tokamak geometry are reported. The effect of plasma pressure on Alfvenic modes is studied. It is shown that the fast-particle pressure can considerably affect the shear Alfven wave continuum structure and hence the toroidicity-induced gap in the continuum. It is also found that the energetic ions can substantially reduce the growth rate of the ballooning modes (and perhaps completely stabilize them in a certain parameter range). Ballooning modes are found to be the dominant instabilities if the bulk-plasma pressure gradient is large enough.