Turbulent transport of trapped-electron modes in collisionless plasmas

Global gyrokinetic particle simulations of collisionless trapped-electron mode turbulence in toroidal plasmas find that electron heat transport exhibits a device size scaling with a gradual transition from Bohm to gyro-Bohm scaling. A comprehensive analysis of spatial and temporal scales shows that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2009-08, Vol.103 (8), p.085004-085004, Article 085004
Main Authors: Xiao, Yong, Lin, Zhihong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Physics
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Summary:Global gyrokinetic particle simulations of collisionless trapped-electron mode turbulence in toroidal plasmas find that electron heat transport exhibits a device size scaling with a gradual transition from Bohm to gyro-Bohm scaling. A comprehensive analysis of spatial and temporal scales shows that the turbulence eddies are predominantly microscopic because of zonal flow shearing, but the presence of mesoscale structures drives a nondiffusive component in the electron heat flux due to the weak nonlinear detuning of the precessional resonance that excites the linear instability.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.103.085004