Resonant Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes (RTAEs) in Neutral Beam Heated Reverse Magnetic Shear Plasmas on TFTR
R. Nazikian, N.N. Gorelenkov, R.V. Budny, C.Z. Cheng, and G.-Y. Fu
Date of PPPL Report: November 1999
Presented at: The 6th International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Technical Committee Meeting on Energetic Particles in Magnetic Confinement held in Naka, Japan on October 12-14, 1999.
Resonant Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes (RTAEs) [1, 2] excited by neutral beam ions are observed in the region of the internal transport barrier in enhanced reverse shear (ERS) plasmas on TFTR. These modes occur in multiples of the same toroidal mode number in the range n=2-4 and appear as highly localized structures near the minimum in the q-profile with frequency near to that expected for TAEs. Unlike regular TAEs, these modes are observed in plasmas where the birth velocity of beam ions is well below the fundamental or sideband resonance condition. Theoretical analysis indicates that the Toroidicity induced Alfvén Eigenmode (TAE) does not exist in these discharges due to strong pressure gradients (of the thermal and fast ions) which moves the mode frequency down into the lower Alfvén continuum. However a new non-perturbative analysis (where the energetic particles are allowed to modify the mode frequency and mode structure) indicates that RTAEs can be driven by neutral beam ions in the weak magnetic shear region of ERS plasma, consistent with observations on TFTR. The importance of such modes is that they may affect the alpha particle heating profile or enhance the loss of energetic alpha particles in an advanced tokamak reactor where large internal pressure gradients and reverse magnetic shear operation are required to sustain large bootstrap current.