Synergy of Turbulent Momentum Drive and Magnetic Braking.

In absence of external torque, plasma rotation in tokamaks results from a balance between collisional magnetic braking and turbulent drive. The outcome of this competition and cooperation is essential to determine the plasma flow. A reduced model, supported by gyrokinetic simulations, is first used to explain and quantify the competition only.

Finding the elusive E×B staircase in magnetized plasmas.

Turbulence in hot magnetized plasmas is shown to generate permeable localized transport barriers that globally organize into the so-called "ExB staircase" [G. Dif-Pradalier et al., Phys.

Turbulence in the TORE SUPRA tokamak: measurements and validation of nonlinear simulations.

Turbulence measurements in TORE SUPRA tokamak plasmas have been quantitatively compared to predictions by nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. For the first time, numerical results simultaneously match within experimental uncertainty (a) the magnitude of effective heat diffusivity, (b) rms values of density fluctuations, and (c) wave-number spectra in both the directions perpendicular to the magnetic field. Moreover, the nonlinear simulations help to revise as an instrumental effect the apparent experimental evidence of strong turbulence anisotropy at spatial scales of the order of ion-sound Larmor radius.

Parametric dependence of turbulent particle transport in tore supra plasmas.

Steady state full noninductive current tore supra plasmas offer a unique opportunity to study the local parametric dependence of particle pinch velocity, in order to discriminate among different theories. Magnetic field shear is found to generate an inward pinch which is dominant in the gradient region (normalized radius 0.3 View Article and Find Full Text PDF