Simulating energetic particle losses in JET plasmas with a reverse integration biasing scheme

An integrated energetic particle transport model has been constructed in JET plasmas constrained by experimental fast ion loss measurements. The model incorporates a synthetic fast ion loss detector identical to JET's thin-foil Faraday cup fast ion loss detector array. The loss model combines analyses from the TRANSP and ORBIT-kick codes with enhanced features for producing the synthetic diagnostic. Extensions to the ORBIT code framework allow a full-orbit representation within the vacuum region that can map particles directly to an installed detector geometry. Since synthetic fast ion loss detectors are plagued by weak loss statistics, a novel reverse integration biasing scheme has been implemented to boost computational efficiency. The model is validated against experimental loss measurements induced by long-lived kink modes and is found to be in good agreement. This confirms the development of a fully integrated transport/loss model which can be quantitatively verified against experiment allowing for future validation and predictive studies. The model is particularly useful for more complicated plasma scenarios that involve multiple fast ion species such as JET's 2021 DT-campaign.

Experimental evidence of nonlinear avalanche dynamics of energetic particle modes

Recent observations in HL-2A tokamak give new experimental evidences of energetic particle mode (EPM) avalanche. In a strong EPM burst, the mode structure propagates radially outward within two hundred Alfvén time, while the frequency of the dominant mode changes self-consistently to maximize wave-particle power exchange and mode growth. This suggests that significant energetic particle transport occurs in this avalanche phase, in agreement with theoretical framework of EPM convective amplification. A simplified relay runner model yields satisfactory interpretations of the measurements. The results can help understanding the nonlinear dynamics of energetic particle driven modes in future burning plasmas, such as ITER.

One dimensional reduced model for ITER relevant energetic particle transport

We set up a mapping procedure able to translate the evolution of the radial profile of fast ions, interacting with Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes, into the dynamics of an equivalent one dimensional bump-on-tail system. We apply this mapping technique to reproduce ITER relevant simulations, which clearly outlined deviations from the diffusive quasi-linear model. Our analysis demonstrates the capability of the one-dimensional beam-plasma dynamics to predict the relevant features of the non-linear hybrid LIGKA/HAGIS simulations. In particular, we clearly identify how the deviation from the quasi-linear evolutive profiles is due to the presence of avalanche processes. A detailed analysis regarding the reduced dimensionality is also addressed, by means of phase-space slicing based on constants of motion. In the conclusions, we outline the main criticalities and outcomes of the procedure, which must be satisfactorily addressed to make quantitative prediction on the observed outgoing fluxes in a Tokamak device.

Development of a reduced model for energetic particle transport by sawteeth in tokamaks

The sawtooth instability is known for inducing transport and loss of energetic particles (EP), and for generating seed magnetic islands that can trigger tearing modes. Both effects degrade the overall plasma performance. Several theories and numerical models have been previously developed to quantify the expected EP transport caused by sawteeth, with various degrees of sophistication to differentiate the response of EPs at different energies and on different orbits (e.g. passing vs. trapped), although the analysis is frequently limited to a single time slice during a tokamak discharge. This work describes the development and initial benchmark of a framework that enables a reduced model for EP transport by sawteeth retaining the full EP phase-space information. The model, implemented in the ORBIT hamiltonian particle-following code, can be used either as a standalone post-processor taking input data from codes such as TRANSP, or as a preprocessor to compute transport coefficients that can be fed back to TRANSP for time-dependent simulations including the effects of sawteeth on energetic particles. The advantage of the latter approach is that the evolution of the EP distribution can be simulated quantitatively for sawtoothing discharges, thus enabling a more accurate modeling of sources, sinks and overall transport properties of EP and thermal plasma species for comprehensive physics studies that require detailed information of the fast ion distribution function and its evolution over time.

The Influence of Magnetic Turbulence on the Energetic Particle Transport Upstream of Shock Waves

Energetic particles are ubiquitous in the interplanetary space and their transport properties are strongly influenced by the interaction with magnetic field fluctuations. Numerical experiments have shown that transport in both the parallel and perpendicular directions with respect to the background magnetic field is deeply affected by magnetic turbulence spectral properties. Recently, making use of a numerical model with three dimensional isotropic turbulence, the influence of turbulence intermittency and magnetic fluctuations on the energetic particle transport was investigated in the solar wind context. Stimulated by this previous theoretical work, here we analyze the parallel transport of supra-thermal particles upstream of interplanetary shock waves by using in situ particle flux measurements; the aim was to relate particle transport properties to the degree of intermittency of the magnetic field fluctuations and to their relative amplitude at the energetic particle resonant scale measured in the same regions. We selected five quasi-perpendicular and five quasi-parallel shock crossings by the ACE satellite. The analysis clearly shows a tendency to find parallel superdiffusive transport at quasi-perpendicular shocks, with a significantly higher level of the energetic particle fluxes than those observed in the quasi-parallel shocks. Furthermore, the occurrence of anomalous parallel transport is only weakly related to the presence of magnetic field intermittency.