Derivation of a gyrokinetic model. Existence and uniqueness of specific stationary solutions

A finite Larmor radius approximation is derived from the classical Vlasov equation, in the limit of large (and uniform) external magnetic field. We also provide an heuristic derivation of the electroneutrality equation in the finite Larmor radius setting. Existence and uniqueness of a solution is proven in the stationary frame for solutions depending only on the direction parallel to the magnetic field and factorizing in the velocity variables

Control of stochasticity in magnetic field lines

We present a method of control which is able to create barriers to magnetic field line diffusion by a small modification of the magnetic perturbation. This method of control is based on a localized control of chaos in Hamiltonian systems. The aim is to modify the perturbation locally by a small control term which creates invariant tori acting as barriers to diffusion for Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom. The location of the invariant torus is enforced in the vicinity of the chosen target. Given the importance of confinement in magnetic fusion devices, the method is applied to two examples with a loss of magnetic confinement. In the case of locked tearing modes, an invariant torus can be restored that aims at showing the current quench and therefore the generation of runaway electrons. In the second case, the method is applied to the control of stochastic boundaries allowing one to define a transport barrier within the stochastic boundary and therefore to monitor the volume of closed field lines

Control of test particle transport in a turbulent electrostatic model of the Scrape Off Layer

The ${\bm E}\times{\bm B}$ drift motion of charged test particle dynamics in the Scrape Off Layer (SOL)is analyzed to investigate a transport control strategy based on Hamiltonian dynamics. We model SOL turbulence using a 2D non-linear fluid code based on interchange instability which was found to exhibit intermittent dynamics of the particle flux. The effect of a small and appropriate modification of the turbulent electric potential is studied with respect to the chaotic diffusion of test particle dynamics. Over a significant range in the magnitude of the turbulent electrostatic field, a three-fold reduction of the test particle diffusion coefficient is achieved

Controlling chaotic transport in a Hamiltonian model of interest to magnetized plasmas

We present a technique to control chaos in Hamiltonian systems which are close to integrable. By adding a small and simple control term to the perturbation, the system becomes more regular than the original one. We apply this technique to a model that reproduces turbulent ExB drift and show numerically that the control is able to drastically reduce chaotic transport

Tailoring Phase Space : A Way to Control Hamiltonian Transport

We present a method to control transport in Hamiltonian systems. We provide an algorithm - based on a perturbation of the original Hamiltonian localized in phase space - to design small control terms that are able to create isolated barriers of transport without modifying other parts of phase space. We apply this method of localized control to a forced pendulum model and to a system describing the motion of charged particles in a model of turbulent electric field

Self-regulation of turbulence bursts and transport barriers

International audienceThe interplay between turbulent bursts and transport barriers is analyzed with a simplified model of interchange turbulence in the Scrape-Off Layer of magnetically confined plasmas. The turbulent bursts spread into the transport barriers, and, depending on the competing magnitude of the burst and stopping capability of the barrier can burn through. Two models of transport barriers are presented, a hard barrier where all turbulent modes are stable in a prescribed region and a soft barrier with external plasma biasing. This process can be modeled on the basis of competing stochastic processes. For classes of probability density function of these processes one can predict the heavy tail properties of the bursts downstream from the barrier, either exponential for a leaky barrier, or with power laws, for a tight barrier. The intrinsic probing of the transport barriers by the turbulent bursts thus gives access to properties of the transport barriers. The main stochastic variables of the two models addressed here are the barrier width and the spreading distance of the turbulent bursts within the barrier together with their level of correlation. One finds that in the case of a barrier located in the Scrape-Off-Layer, the stochastic model predicts a leaky barrier with an exponential probability density function of escaping turbulent bursts in agreement with the simulation data