Chirping and Sudden Excitation of Energetic-Particle-Driven Geodesic Acoustic Modes in a Large Helical Device Experiment

Energetic-particle-driven geodesic acoustic modes (EGAMs) observed in a Large Helical Device experiment are investigated using a hybrid simulation code for energetic particles interacting with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluid. The frequency chirping of the primary mode and the sudden excitation of the half-frequency secondary mode are reproduced for the first time with the hybrid simulation using the realistic physical condition and the three-dimensional equilibrium. Both EGAMs have global spatial profiles which are consistent with the experimental measurements. For the secondary mode, the bulk pressure perturbation and the energetic particle pressure perturbation cancel each other out, and thus the frequency is lower than the primary mode. It is found that the excitation of the secondary mode does not depend on the nonlinear MHD coupling. The secondary mode is excited by energetic particles that satisfy the linear and nonlinear resonance conditions, respectively, for the primary and secondary modes

Simulation of energetic particle driven geodesic acoustic modes and the energy channeling in the Large Helical Device plasmas

Energetic particle driven geodesic acoustic modes (EGAMs) in Large Helical Device plasmas are investigated using MEGA code. MEGA is a hybrid simulation code for energetic particles interacting with a magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) fluid and in the present work, both the energetic particles and bulk ions are described by the kinetic equations. The low frequency EGAMs are reproduced. Also, the energy transfer is analyzed and the bulk ion heating during the EGAM activity is observed. The ions obtain energy when the energetic particleslose energy, and this indicates that an energy channel is established by the EGAM. EGAM channeling is reproduced by simulation with realistic parameters for the first time. The heating power to bulk ions is 3.4 kW m−3. It is found that sideband resonance is dominant during the energy transfer from EGAM to the bulk ions, and the transit frequencies of resonant bulk ions are one-half of the EGAM frequency

The systematic investigation of energetic-particle-driven geodesic acoustic mode channeling using MEGA code

Energetic-particle-driven geodesic acoustic modes (EGAMs) channeling in the Large Helical Device (LHD) plasmas are systematically investigated for the first time using MEGA code. MEGA is a hybrid simulation code for energetic particles interacting with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluid. In the present work, both the energetic particles and the bulk ions are described kinetically. The EGAM profiles in the three-dimensional form is illustrated. Then, EGAM channeling behaviors are analyzed under different conditions. During the EGAM activities without frequency chirping, EGAM channeling occurs in the linear growthstage but terminates in the decay stage after the saturation. During the EGAM activities with frequency chirping, EGAM channeling occurs continuously. Also, low-frequency EGAM makes the energy transfer efficiency (Eion/EEP) higher, and this is confirmed by changing the energetic particle pressure, energetic particle beam velocity, and energetic particle pitch angle. Moreover, higher bulk ion temperature makes the energy transfer efficiency higher. In addition, under acertain condition, the energy transfer efficiency in the deuterium plasma is lower than that in the hydrogen plasma