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2011
Resistive wall mode stability limits have been probed by MHD spectroscopy and numerical modelling. MAST plasmas have operated up to βN = 5.7, well above the predicted ideal kink no-wall limit or measured resonant field amplification limits due to a combination of rotation and kinetic damping. By varying the density, both the rotation and the fast …
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2011
We present particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of minority energetic protons in deuterium plasmas, which demonstrate a collective instability responsible for emission near the lower hybrid frequency and its harmonics. The simulations capture the lower hybrid drift instability in a regime relevant to tokamak fusion plasmas, and show further that the …
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2011
It is often observed that large sawteeth trigger the neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) well below the usual threshold for this instability. At the same time, fast particles in the plasma core stabilize sawteeth and provide these large crashes. The paper presents results of first experiments in ASDEX Upgrade for destabilization of fast particle stabil…
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2011
Experiments have been performed on MAST using internal (n=3) resonant magnetic perturbation coils. The application of the RMPs to L-mode discharges has shown a clear density pump out when the field line pitch angle at the low field side of the plasma is sufficiently well aligned with the applied field. The application of the RMPs before the L-H tra…
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2011
The sawtooth instability in tokamak plasmas results in a periodic reorganization of the core plasma. A typical sawtooth cycle consists of a quiescent period, during which the plasma density and temperature increase, followed by the growth of a helical magnetic perturbation, which in turn is followed by a rapid collapse of the central pressure. The …
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2010
We present first principles simulations of the direct collisionless coupling of the free energy of fusionborn ions into electron current in a magnetically confined fusion plasma. These simulations demonstrate, for the first time, a key building block of some ‘‘alpha channeling’’ scenarios for tokamak experiments. Spontaneously excited obliq…
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2010
Thomson scattering measurements with subcentimeter spatial resolution have been made during a sawtooth crash in a Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak fusion plasma. The unparalleled resolution of the temperature profile has shed new light on the mechanisms that underlie the sawtooth. As magnetic reconnection occurs, the temperature gradient at the island…
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2010
Two issues of the resistive wall mode (RWM) control code maturity are addressed: the inclusion of advanced mode damping physics beyond the ideal MHD description, and the possibility of taking into account the influence of 3D features of the conducting structures on the mode stability and control. Examples of formulations and computational results a…
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2010
Plasma rotation in tokamaks is of special interest for its potential stabilising effect on micro- and macro instabilities, leading to increased confinement. In MAST, the torque from Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) can spin the plasma to a core velocity ~ 300km.s -1 (Alfven Mach number ~ 0.3). Low density plasmas often exhibit a weakly non-monotonic sa…
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2010
MAST plasmas with a safety factor above unity and a profile with either weakly reversed shear, or broad low shear regions, regularly exhibit long-lived saturated ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. The toroidal rotation is flattened in the presence of such perturbations and the fast ion losses are enhanced. These ideal modes, distinguish…
Showing 91 - 100 of 126 UKAEA Paper Results