Hamiltonian guiding center drift orbit calculation for plasmas of arbitrary cross section

A Hamiltonian guiding center drift orbit formalism is developed which permits the efficient calculation of particle trajectories in magnetic field configurations of arbitrary cross section with arbitrary plasma β. The magnetic field is assumed to be a small perturbation from a zero‐order ‘‘equilibri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Physics of fluids (1958) 1984-10, Vol.27 (10), p.2455-2467
Main Authors: White, R. B., Chance, M. S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Exact sciences and technology
Physics
Physics of gases, plasmas and electric discharges
Physics of plasmas and electric discharges
Plasma properties
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Summary:A Hamiltonian guiding center drift orbit formalism is developed which permits the efficient calculation of particle trajectories in magnetic field configurations of arbitrary cross section with arbitrary plasma β. The magnetic field is assumed to be a small perturbation from a zero‐order ‘‘equilibrium’’ field possessing magnetic surfaces. The equilibrium field, possessing helical or toroidal symmetry, can be modeled analytically or obtained numerically from equilibrium codes. The formalism is used to study trapped particle precession. Finite banana width corrections to the toroidal precession rate are derived, and the bounce averaged trapped particle motion is expressed in Hamiltonian form. Particle drift‐pumping associated with the ‘‘fishbone’’ oscillation is investigated. A numerical code based on the formalism is used to study particle orbits in circular and bean‐shaped tokamak configurations.
ISSN:0031-9171
2163-4998
DOI:10.1063/1.864527