Transport suppression by shear flow generation in multihelicity resistive-g turbulence

Abstract

Turbulent momentum transport given by the Reynolds stress is considered as a candidate for explaining the production and sustainment of the mean shear flow in the high confinement ``(H)'' mode. The fluctuation mechanism for the shear flow generation and transport reduction in the three-dimensional (3-D) multihelicity system is given. The profiles of the Reynolds stress, shear flow, and thermal flux in the 3-D case are compared with those in the two-dimensional (2-D) case. The Beklemishev?Horton theory for the anomalous transport which multiplies the 2-D transport by the density of distinct mode rational surfaces is found to overestimate the observed flux due to the disappearance of a subset of modes on certain rational surfaces. The mixing-length theory, in which the anomalous transport is independent of the density of mode rational surfaces, underestimates the thermal flux.journal articl