Resistive wall mode instability at intermediate plasma rotation

Experimental observation of resistive wall mode (RWM) instability in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at plasma rotation levels intermediate to the ion precession drift and ion bounce frequencies suggests that low critical rotation threshold models are insufficient. Kinetic modificatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2010-01, Vol.104 (3), p.035003-035003
Main Authors: Berkery, J W, Sabbagh, S A, Betti, R, Hu, B, Bell, R E, Gerhardt, S P, Manickam, J, Tritz, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CLOSED PLASMA DEVICES
CONFIGURATION
DRIFT INSTABILITY
INSTABILITY
MOTION
NSTX DEVICE
PLASMA
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MICROINSTABILITIES
RESONANCE
ROTATION
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
SPHEROMAK DEVICES
STABILITY
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
TOKAMAK DEVICES
WALLS
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Summary:Experimental observation of resistive wall mode (RWM) instability in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at plasma rotation levels intermediate to the ion precession drift and ion bounce frequencies suggests that low critical rotation threshold models are insufficient. Kinetic modifications to the ideal stability criterion yield a more complex relationship between plasma rotation and RWM stability. Good agreement is found between an experimental RWM instability at intermediate plasma rotation and the RWM marginal point calculated with kinetic effects included, by the MISK code. By self-similarly scaling the experimental plasma rotation profile and the collisionality in the calculation, resonances of the mode with the precession drift and bounce frequencies are explored. Experimentally, RWMs go unstable when the plasma rotation is between the stabilizing precession drift and bounce resonances.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.035003