The Gyrokinetic Description of Microturbulence in Magnetic Plasmas
Authors: John A. Krommes
Abstract:
Nonlinear gyrokinetics is the major formalism used for both the analytical and numerical
description of low-frequency microturbulence in magnetized plasmas. Its derivation from
noncanonical Lagrangian methods and field-theoretic variational principles is summarized. Basic
properties of gyrokinetic physics are discussed, including polarization and the concept of the
gyrokinetic vacuum, equilibrium statistical mechanics, and the two fundamental constituents
of gyrokinetic turbulence, namely drift waves and zonal flows. Numerical techniques are described
briefly, and illustrative simulation results are presented. Advanced topics include the
transition to turbulence, nonlinear saturation of turbulence by coupling to damped gyrokinetic
eigenmodes, phase-space cascades, subcritical turbulence, and momentum conservation.
__________________________________________________
To be Submitted to: Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics (January 2012)
__________________________________________________
Download PPPL-4633 (pdf 1.03MB 34pp)
__________________________________________________