Information Propagation in Predator-Prey Dynamics of Turbulent Plasma

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Tanogami, Tomohiro, Sasaki, Makoto, Kobayashi, Tatsuya
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Tanogami, Tomohiro
Sasaki, Makoto
Kobayashi, Tatsuya
author_facet Tanogami, Tomohiro
Sasaki, Makoto
Kobayashi, Tatsuya
contents Magnetically confined fusion plasmas exhibit predator-prey-like cyclic oscillations through the self-regulating interaction between drift-wave turbulence and zonal flow. To elucidate the detailed mechanism and causality underlying this phenomenon, we construct a simple stochastic predator-prey model that incorporates intrinsic fluctuations and analyze its statistical properties from an information-theoretic perspective. We first show that the model exhibits persistent fluctuating cyclic oscillations called quasi-cycles due to amplification of intrinsic noise. This result suggests the possibility that the previously observed periodic oscillations in a toroidal plasma are not limit cycles but quasi-cycles, and that such quasi-cycles may be widely observed under various conditions. For this model, we further prove that information of the zonal flow is propagated to turbulence. This result suggests that turbulence behavior may be predictable to a certain extent based on zonal flow characteristics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_05127
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Information Propagation in Predator-Prey Dynamics of Turbulent Plasma
Tanogami, Tomohiro
Sasaki, Makoto
Kobayashi, Tatsuya
Plasma Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Fluid Dynamics
Magnetically confined fusion plasmas exhibit predator-prey-like cyclic oscillations through the self-regulating interaction between drift-wave turbulence and zonal flow. To elucidate the detailed mechanism and causality underlying this phenomenon, we construct a simple stochastic predator-prey model that incorporates intrinsic fluctuations and analyze its statistical properties from an information-theoretic perspective. We first show that the model exhibits persistent fluctuating cyclic oscillations called quasi-cycles due to amplification of intrinsic noise. This result suggests the possibility that the previously observed periodic oscillations in a toroidal plasma are not limit cycles but quasi-cycles, and that such quasi-cycles may be widely observed under various conditions. For this model, we further prove that information of the zonal flow is propagated to turbulence. This result suggests that turbulence behavior may be predictable to a certain extent based on zonal flow characteristics.
title Information Propagation in Predator-Prey Dynamics of Turbulent Plasma
topic Plasma Physics
Statistical Mechanics
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05127