Turbulence-Generated Stepped Safety Factor Profiles in Tokamaks with Low Magnetic Shear

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Volčokas, Arnas, Ball, Justin, Di Giannatale, Giovanni, Brunner, Stephan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Volčokas, Arnas
Ball, Justin
Di Giannatale, Giovanni
Brunner, Stephan
author_facet Volčokas, Arnas
Ball, Justin
Di Giannatale, Giovanni
Brunner, Stephan
contents Nonlinear local and global gyrokinetic simulations of tokamak plasmas demonstrate that turbulence-generated currents flatten the safety factor profile near low-order rational surfaces when magnetic shear is low, even when the plasma $β$ is small. A large set of flux tube simulations with different safety factor profiles (e.g. linear and non-linear safety factor profiles) and global simulations with reversed magnetic shear profiles show that such stepped safety factor profiles dramatically reduce the heat transport and are a robust phenomenon. This mechanism may play a key role in the triggering of internal transport barriers (ITBs) and more generally reveal novel strategies for improving confinement in devices with low magnetic shear.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_04459
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Turbulence-Generated Stepped Safety Factor Profiles in Tokamaks with Low Magnetic Shear
Volčokas, Arnas
Ball, Justin
Di Giannatale, Giovanni
Brunner, Stephan
Plasma Physics
Nonlinear local and global gyrokinetic simulations of tokamak plasmas demonstrate that turbulence-generated currents flatten the safety factor profile near low-order rational surfaces when magnetic shear is low, even when the plasma $β$ is small. A large set of flux tube simulations with different safety factor profiles (e.g. linear and non-linear safety factor profiles) and global simulations with reversed magnetic shear profiles show that such stepped safety factor profiles dramatically reduce the heat transport and are a robust phenomenon. This mechanism may play a key role in the triggering of internal transport barriers (ITBs) and more generally reveal novel strategies for improving confinement in devices with low magnetic shear.
title Turbulence-Generated Stepped Safety Factor Profiles in Tokamaks with Low Magnetic Shear
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.04459