Role of Alfvén Instabilities in Energetic Ion Transport
Authors: S. Bernabei, M.G. Bell, R. Budny, D. Darrow, E.D. Fredrickson, N. Gorelenkov, J. C. Hosea, R. Majeski, E. Mazzucato, R. Nazikian, C.K. Phillips, J.H. Rogers, G. Schilling, R. White, J.R. Wilson, F. Zonca, and S. Zweben
Experiments of plasma heating at the ion cyclotron resonance of a minority specie have shown that the heating efficiency degrades above a certain power threshold. It is found that this threshold is due to the destabilization of a branch of shear Alfvén waves which causes a diffusive loss of fast ions, the Energetic Particle Modes. These modes not only play a fundamental role in the transport of the fast ions, but appear closely related to the formation of the giant sawteeth.