R.J.J. Mackenbach, J.H.E. Proll, R. Wakelkamp, P. Helander
{"title":"The available energy of trapped electrons: a nonlinear measure for turbulent transport","authors":"R.J.J. Mackenbach, J.H.E. Proll, R. Wakelkamp, P. Helander","doi":"10.1017/s0022377823001083","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"A collisionless plasma possesses a certain amount of ‘available energy’, which is that part of the thermal energy that can be converted into kinetic energy of plasma motion and electromagnetic fluctuations. In this paper we present a calculation of the available energy carried by trapped electrons in a slender non-omnigenous flux tube of plasma. This quantity is compared with gyrokinetic simulations of the nonlinear saturated radial energy flux resulting from turbulence driven by collisionless trapped-electron modes in various stellarators and a tokamak. The numerical calculation of available energy is fast and shows a strong correlation with the turbulent energy fluxes found in the gyrokinetic simulations. Indeed, the energy flux is found to be proportional to the available energy to the power of approximately $3/2$ , which is what one would expect from a simple argument. We furthermore investigate how available energy is distributed across different bounce wells, and it is found that deeply trapped electrons typically contribute most to the available energy. Finally, we investigate the dependence of available energy on gradient strength, and we find important differences between weakly and strongly driven regimes for stellarators and tokamaks.","PeriodicalId":16846,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Plasma Physics","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Plasma Physics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022377823001083","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PHYSICS, FLUIDS & PLASMAS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
A collisionless plasma possesses a certain amount of ‘available energy’, which is that part of the thermal energy that can be converted into kinetic energy of plasma motion and electromagnetic fluctuations. In this paper we present a calculation of the available energy carried by trapped electrons in a slender non-omnigenous flux tube of plasma. This quantity is compared with gyrokinetic simulations of the nonlinear saturated radial energy flux resulting from turbulence driven by collisionless trapped-electron modes in various stellarators and a tokamak. The numerical calculation of available energy is fast and shows a strong correlation with the turbulent energy fluxes found in the gyrokinetic simulations. Indeed, the energy flux is found to be proportional to the available energy to the power of approximately $3/2$ , which is what one would expect from a simple argument. We furthermore investigate how available energy is distributed across different bounce wells, and it is found that deeply trapped electrons typically contribute most to the available energy. Finally, we investigate the dependence of available energy on gradient strength, and we find important differences between weakly and strongly driven regimes for stellarators and tokamaks.
期刊介绍:
JPP aspires to be the intellectual home of those who think of plasma physics as a fundamental discipline. The journal focuses on publishing research on laboratory plasmas (including magnetically confined and inertial fusion plasmas), space physics and plasma astrophysics that takes advantage of the rapid ongoing progress in instrumentation and computing to advance fundamental understanding of multiscale plasma physics. The Journal welcomes submissions of analytical, numerical, observational and experimental work: both original research and tutorial- or review-style papers, as well as proposals for its Lecture Notes series.