Structure of nonlocality of plasma turbulence

• Published in: Nuclear fusion 2013-07, Vol.53 (7), p.73029-12
• Main Authors: Gürcan, Ö.D., Vermare, L., Hennequin, P., Berionni, V., Diamond, P.H., Dif-Pradalier, G., Garbet, X., Ghendrih, P., Grandgirard, V., McDevitt, C.J., Morel, P., Sarazin, Y., Storelli, A., Bourdelle, C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Computational fluid dynamics; Fluid flow; Flux; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Physics; Plasma Physics; Turbulence; Turbulence intensity; Turbulent flow
• ISSN: 0029-5515; 1741-4326
• DOI: 10.1088/0029-5515/53/7/073029

Various indications on the weakly nonlocal character of turbulent plasma transport both from experimental fluctuation measurements from Tore Supra and observations from the full-f, flux-driven gyrokinetic code GYSELA are reported. A simple Fisher equation model of this weakly nonlocal dynamics can be formulated in terms of an evolution equation for the turbulent entropy density, which contains the basic phenomenon of radial turbulence spreading in addition to avalanche-like dynamics via coupling to profile modulations. A derivation of this model, which contains the so-called beach effect, a diffusive and convective flux components for the flux of turbulence intensity, in addition to linear group propagation is given, starting from the drift-kinetic equation. The proposed model has the form of a transport equation for turbulence intensity, and may be considered as an addition to transport modelling. The kinetic fluxes given, can be computed using model closures, or local gyrokinetics. The model is also used in a particular setup that represents the near edge region as a relatively stable zone between the core and edge region where the energy injection is locally more substantial. It is observed that with constant, physical coefficients, the model gives a convincing qualitative profile of fluctuation intensity when the turbulence is coming from the core region with either a group velocity or a convective flux.