Double Gap Alfvén Eigenmodes: Revisiting Eigenmodes Interaction with the Alfvén Continuum
Author: N.N. Gorelenkov
Date of PPPL Report: December 2005
Published in: PRL 95, 265003 (2005) 1–4
A new type of global shear Alfvén Eigenmode is found in tokamak plasmas where the mode localization is in the region intersecting the Alfvén continuum. The eigenmode is formed by the coupling of two solutions from two adjacent gaps (akin to potential wells) in the shear Alfvén continuum. For tokamak plasmas with reversed magnetic shear it is shown that the toroidiciy-induced solution tunnels through the continuum to match the ellipticity-induced Alfvén eigenmode (TAE and EAE, respectively) so that the resulting solution is continuous at the point of resonance with the continuum. The existence of these Double Gap Alfvén Eigenmodes (DGAEs) allows for potentially new ways of coupling edge fields to the plasma core in conditions where the core region is conventionally considered inaccessible. Implications include new approaches to heating and current drive in fusion plasmas as well as its possible use as core diagnostic in burning plasmas.