1,839 research outputs found
Influence of higher-order harmonics on the saturation of the tearing mode
The nonlinear saturation of the tearing mode is revisited in slab geometry by
taking into account higher-order harmonics in the outer solution. The general
formalism for tackling this problem in the case of a vanishing current gradient
at the resonant surface is derived. It is shown that, although the higher-order
harmonics lead to corrections in the final saturation equation, they are of
higher order in the perturbation parameter, which provides a formal proof that
the standard one-harmonic approach is asymptotically correct.Comment: Accepted to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio
A Drift-Kinetic Analytical Model for SOL Plasma Dynamics at Arbitrary Collisionality
A drift-kinetic model to describe the plasma dynamics in the scrape-off layer
region of tokamak devices at arbitrary collisionality is derived. Our
formulation is based on a gyroaveraged Lagrangian description of the charged
particle motion, and the corresponding drift-kinetic Boltzmann equation that
includes a full Coulomb collision operator. Using a Hermite-Laguerre velocity
space decomposition of the gyroaveraged distribution function, a set of
equations to evolve the coefficients of the expansion is presented. By
evaluating explicitly the moments of the Coulomb collision operator,
distribution functions arbitrarily far from equilibrium can be studied at
arbitrary collisionalities. A fluid closure in the high-collisionality limit is
presented, and the corresponding fluid equations are compared with
previously-derived fluid models
Plasmoid and Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in Sweet-Parker current sheets
A 2D linear theory of the instability of Sweet-Parker (SP) current sheets is
developed in the framework of Reduced MHD. A local analysis is performed taking
into account the dependence of a generic equilibrium profile on the outflow
coordinate. The plasmoid instability [Loureiro et al, Phys. Plasmas {\bf 14},
100703 (2007)] is recovered, i.e., current sheets are unstable to the formation
of a large-wave-number chain of plasmoids (k_{\rm max}\Lsheet \sim S^{3/8},
where is the wave-number of fastest growing mode, S=\Lsheet
V_A/\eta is the Lundquist number, \Lsheet is the length of the sheet,
is the Alfv\'en speed and is the plasma resistivity), which grows
super-Alfv\'enically fast (\gmax\tau_A\sim S^{1/4}, where \gmax is the
maximum growth rate, and \tau_A=\Lsheet/V_A). For typical background
profiles, the growth rate and the wave-number are found to {\it increase} in
the outflow direction. This is due to the presence of another mode, the
Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability, which is triggered at the periphery of the
layer, where the outflow velocity exceeds the Alfv\'en speed associated with
the upstream magnetic field. The KH instability grows even faster than the
plasmoid instability, \gmax \tau_A \sim k_{\rm max} \Lsheet\sim S^{1/2}. The
effect of viscosity () on the plasmoid instability is also addressed. In
the limit of large magnetic Prandtl numbers, , it is found that
\gmax\sim S^{1/4}Pm^{-5/8} and k_{\rm max} \Lsheet\sim S^{3/8}Pm^{-3/16},
leading to the prediction that the critical Lundquist number for plasmoid
instability in the regime is \Scrit\sim 10^4Pm^{1/2}. These results
are verified via direct numerical simulation of the linearized equations, using
a new, analytical 2D SP equilibrium solution.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The fully kinetic Biermann battery and associated generation of pressure anisotropy
The dynamical evolution of a fully kinetic, collisionless system with imposed
background density and temperature gradients is investigated analytically. The
temperature gradient leads to the generation of temperature anisotropy, with
the temperature along the gradient becoming larger than that in the direction
perpendicular to it. This causes the system to become unstable to pressure
anisotropy driven instabilities, dominantly to electron Weibel. When both
density and temperature gradients are present and non-parallel to each other,
we obtain a Biermann-like linear in time magnetic field growth. Accompanying
particle in cell numerical simulations are shown to confirm our analytical
results.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, + Supplementary materials (4 pages, 2 figures
Effect of current corrugations on the stability of the tearing mode
The generation of zonal magnetic fields in laboratory fusion plasmas is
predicted by theoretical and numerical models and was recently observed
experimentally. It is shown that the modification of the current density
gradient associated with such corrugations can significantly affect the
stability of the tearing mode. A simple scaling law is derived that predicts
the impact of small stationary current corrugations on the stability parameter
. The described destabilization mechanism can provide an explanation
for the trigger of the Neoclassical Tearing Mode (NTM) in plasmas without
significant MHD activity.Comment: Accepted to Physics of Plasma
Magnetic reconnection and stochastic plasmoid chains in high-Lundquist-number plasmas
A numerical study of magnetic reconnection in the large-Lundquist-number
(), plasmoid-dominated regime is carried out for up to . The
theoretical model of Uzdensky {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 105}, 235002
(2010)] is confirmed and partially amended. The normalized reconnection rate is
\normEeff\sim 0.02 independently of for . The plasmoid flux
() and half-width () distribution functions scale as and . The joint distribution of and
shows that plasmoids populate a triangular region ,
where is the reconnecting field. It is argued that this feature is due to
plasmoid coalescence. Macroscopic "monster" plasmoids with % of the
system size are shown to emerge in just a few Alfv\'en times, independently of
, suggesting that large disruptive events are an inevitable feature of
large- reconnection.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, submitted for publicatio
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