Feedback effects between resonance surfaces and space harmonics of external perturbations in tokamak

Resonant magnetic surfaces in a tokamak can amplify the spatial harmonics of external perturbations, which may come from other resonant surfaces, from error fields, or from a feedback system. The behavior of this active resonant media can be roughly approximated with a system of coupled Van der Pole oscillators. The effect of frequency injection locking (or spatial harmonics injection locking in the plasma frame) is typical for these nonlinear systems. It happens when the amplitude of one modes increases and this mode becomes a dominant mode. Transition into synchronized condition can occur in a time scale of approx 50 - 100 μsec. For a tokamak it means that the stability of a large scale MHD perturbation can change jumpily, because frequency (phase) lock may create a positive feedback between resonant surfaces (or between resonant surfaces and the external feedback system). This effect probably determined the explosive dynamic of the disruptive instability