Profile-turbulence interactions, magnetohydrodynamic relaxations, and transport in tokamaks

The dynamical behavior of the global, two-fluid, electromagnetic model of a tokamak plasma is explored under conditions corresponding to the Rijnhuizen tokamak project [A. J. H. Donne, Plasma Phys. Rep. 20, 192 (1994)] using the CUTIE code [A. Thyagaraja, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 42, B255 (2000)]. Simulations of an off-axis electron-cyclotron-heated (350kW) hydrogen discharge and a purely Ohmic one over several resistive evolution times (τres≃15−20ms) are described. The results illustrate profile-turbulence interactions and the spectral transfer processes implicated in the spontaneous generation and maintenance of mesoscale zonal flows and dynamo currents. Relaxation phenomena, including off- and on-axis sawteeth and periodically repeating edge ballooning instabilities mediated by these mechanisms, are presented. The CUTIE model reproduces many observed features of the experiment qualitatively and suggests that global electromagnetic simulations may play an essential role in understanding tokamak tu...