Effect of the radial electric field, induced by Alfvén waves, on transport processes in tokamaks

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (11Y) ◽  
pp. 2119-2125
Author(s):  
V.S Tsypin ◽  
I.C Nascimento ◽  
R.M.O Galvão ◽  
A.G Elfimov ◽  
M Tendler ◽  
...  
2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. S. TSYPIN ◽  
R. M. O. GALVÃO ◽  
I. C. NASCIMENTO ◽  
M. TENDLER ◽  
J. H. F. SEVERO ◽  
...  

Absorption by trapped particles is supposed to seriously hinder current drive by Alfvén waves. However, it is shown in this paper that the same effect is rather beneficial for the emergence of the radial electric field induced by these waves, which is important for creating and maintaining transport barriers in tokamaks.


1999 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 3548-3553 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. S. Tsypin ◽  
I. C. Nascimento ◽  
R. M. O. Galvão ◽  
A. G. Elfimov ◽  
G. S. Amarante Segundo ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Prikryl ◽  
J. W. MacDougall ◽  
I. F. Grant ◽  
D. P. Steele ◽  
G. J. Sofko ◽  
...  

Abstract. A long series of polar patches was observed by ionosondes and an all-sky imager during a disturbed period (Kp = 7- and IMF Bz < 0). The ionosondes measured electron densities of up to 9 × 1011 m-3 in the patch center, an increase above the density minimum between patches by a factor of \\sim4.5. Bands of F-region irregularities generated at the equatorward edge of the patches were tracked by HF radars. The backscatter bands were swept northward and eastward across the polar cap in a fan-like formation as the afternoon convection cell expanded due to the IMF By > 0. Near the north magnetic pole, an all-sky imager observed the 630-nm emission patches of a distinctly band-like shape drifting northeastward to eastward. The 630-nm emission patches were associated with the density patches and backscatter bands. The patches originated in, or near, the cusp footprint where they were formed by convection bursts (flow channel events, FCEs) structuring the solar EUV-produced photoionization and the particle-produced auroral/cusp ionization by segmenting it into elongated patches. Just equatorward of the cusp footprint Pc5 field line resonances (FLRs) were observed by magnetometers, riometers and VHF/HF radars. The AC electric field associated with the FLRs resulted in a poleward-progressing zonal flow pattern and backscatter bands. The VHF radar Doppler spectra indicated the presence of steep electron density gradients which, through the gradient drift instability, can lead to the generation of the ionospheric irregularities found in patches. The FLRs and FCEs were associated with poleward-progressing DPY currents (Hall currents modulated by the IMF By) and riometer absorption enhancements. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the VHF backscatter and associated riometer absorptions closely resembled those of poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs). In the solar wind, IMP 8 observed large amplitude Alfvén waves that were correlated with Pc5 pulsations observed by the ground magnetometers, riometers and radars. It is concluded that the FLRs and FCEs that produced patches were driven by solar wind Alfvén waves coupling to the dayside magnetosphere. During a period of southward IMF the dawn-dusk electric field associated with the Alfvén waves modulated the subsolar magnetic reconnection into pulses that resulted in convection flow bursts mapping to the ionospheric footprint of the cusp.Key words. Ionosphere (polar ionosphere). Magneto- spheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; polar wind-magnetosphere interactions).


2000 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. BARONIA ◽  
M. S. TIWARI

Kinetic Alfvén waves in the presence of an inhomogeneous electric field applied perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field in an anisotropic, inhomogeneous magnetoplasma are investigated. The particle aspect approach is adopted to investigate the trajectories of charged particles in the electromagnetic field of a kinetic Alfvén wave. Expressions are found for the field-aligned current, the perpendicular current, the dispersion relation and the particle energies. The growth rate of the wave is obtained by an energy- conservation method. It is predicted that plasma density inhomogeneity is the main source of instability, and an enhancement of the growth rate by electric field inhomogeneity and temperature anisotropy is found. The dispersion relation and growth rate involve the finite-Larmor-radius effect, electron inertia and the temperature anisotropy of the magnetoplasma. The applicability of the investigation to the auroral acceleration region is discussed.


2003 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER A. DAMIANO ◽  
R. D. SYDORA ◽  
J. C. SAMSON

We have developed a hybrid magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) –kinetic box model valid for standing shear Alfvén waves using the cold plasma MHD equations coupled to a system of kinetic electrons. The guiding centre equations are used for the motion of the electrons and the system is closed via an expression for the field-aligned electric field in terms of the perpendicular electric field and moments of the electron distribution function. The perpendicular electric fields are derived from the ideal MHD approximation. We outline the basic model equations and method of solution. Simulations are then presented comparing the hybrid model results with a cold plasma MHD model. Landau damping is shown to heavily damp the standing shear Alfvén wave in the hybrid simulations when $v_{th} \ge V_{A}$. The damping rate is shown to be in good agreement with the theoretical rate calculated for the model parameters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (2) ◽  
pp. 2385-2395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawan Kumar ◽  
Željka Bošnjak

ABSTRACT We present a model for fast radio bursts (FRBs) where a large-amplitude Alfvén wave packet is launched by a disturbance near the surface of a magnetar, and a substantial fraction of the wave energy is converted to coherent radio waves at a distance of a few tens of neutron star radii. The wave amplitude at the magnetar surface should be about 1011 G in order to produce an FRB of isotropic luminosity 1044 erg s−1. An electric current along the static magnetic field is required by Alfvén waves with non-zero component of transverse wave vector. The current is supplied by counter-streaming electron–positron pairs, which have to move at nearly the speed of light at larger radii as the plasma density decreases with distance from the magnetar surface. The counter-streaming pairs are subject to two-stream instability, which leads to formation of particle bunches of size of the order of c/ωp, where ωp is the plasma frequency. A strong electric field develops along the static magnetic field when the wave packet arrives at a radius where electron–positron density is insufficient to supply the current required by the wave. The electric field accelerates particle bunches along the curved magnetic field lines, and that produces the coherent FRB radiation. We provide a number of predictions of this model.


1998 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 587-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL L. GOODMAN

The classical transport coefficients provide an accurate description of transport processes in collision-dominated plasmas. These transport coefficients are used in a cylindrically symmetric, electrically driven, steady-state magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model with flow and an energy equation to study the effects of transport processes on MHD equilibria. The transport coefficients, which are functions of number density, temperature and magnetic field strength, are computed self-consistently as functions of radius R. The model has plasma-confining solutions characterized by the existence of an inner region of plasma with values of temperature, pressure and current density that are orders of magnitude larger than in the surrounding, outer region of plasma that extends outward to the boundary of the cylinder at R=a. The inner and outer regions are separated by a boundary layer that is an electric-dipole layer in which the relative charge separation is localized, and in which the radial electric field, temperature, pressure and axial current density vary rapidly. By analogy with laboratory fusion plasmas in confinement devices, the plasma in the inner region is confined plasma, and the plasma in the outer region is unconfined plasma. The solutions studied demonstrate that the thermoelectric current density, driven by the temperature gradient, can make the main contribution to the current density, and that the thermoelectric component of the electron heat flux, driven by an effective electric field, can make a large contribution to the total heat flux. These solutions also demonstrate that the electron pressure gradient and Hall terms in Ohm's law can make dominant contributions to the radial electric field. These results indicate that the common practice of neglecting thermoelectric effects and the Hall and electron pressure-gradient terms in Ohm's law is not always justified, and can lead to large errors. The model has three, intrinsic, universal values of β at which qualitative changes in the solutions occur. These values are universal in that they only depend on the ion charge number and the electron-to-ion mass ratio. The first such value of β (about 3.2% for a hydrogen plasma), when crossed, signals a change in sign of the radial gradient of the number density, and must be exceeded in order that a plasma-confining solution exist for a plasma with no flow. The second such value of β (about 10.4% for a hydrogen plasma), when crossed, signals a change in sign of the poloidal current density. Some of the solutions presented exhibit this current reversal. The third such value of β is about 2.67 for a hydrogen plasma. When β is greater than or equal to this value, the thermoelectric, effective electric-field-driven component of the electron heat flux cancels 50% or more of the temperature-gradient-driven ion heat flux. If appropriate boundary conditions are given on the axis R=0 of the cylinder, the equilibrium is uniquely determined. Analytical evidence is presented that, together with earlier work, strongly suggests that if appropriate boundary conditions are enforced at the outer boundary R=a then the equilibrium exhibits a bifurcation into two states, one of which exhibits plasma confinement and carries a larger axial current than the other state, which is close to global thermodynamic equilibrium, and so is not plasma-confining. Exact expressions for the two values of the axial current in the bifurcation are presented. Whether or not a bifurcation can occur is determined by the values of a critical electric field determined by the boundary conditions at R=a, and the constant driving electric field, which is specified. An exact expression for the critical electric field is presented. Although the ranges of the physical quantities computed by the model are a subset of those describing fusion plasmas in tokamaks, the model may be applied to any two-component, electron–ion, collision-dominated plasma for which the ion cyclotron frequency is much larger than the ion–ion Coulomb collision frequency, such as the plasma in magnetic flux tubes in the solar interior, photosphere, lower transition region, and possibly the upper transition region and lower corona.


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