Self-Organized Evolution of the Internal Transport Barrier in Ion-Temperature-Gradient Driven Gyrokinetic Turbulence
Shaojie Wang, Zihao Wang, T.S. Wu
Abstract
Understanding the self-organization of the most promising internal transport barrier in fusion plasmas needs a long-time nonlinear gyrokinetic global simulation. The neighboring equilibrium update method is proposed, which solves the secularity problem in a perturbative simulation and speeds up the numerical computation by more than 10 times. It is found that the internal transport barrier emerges at the magnetic axis due to inward propagated turbulence avalanche, and its outward expansion is the catastrophe of self-organized structure induced by outward propagated avalanche.
Topics & Concepts
TurbulencePhysicsNonlinear systemComputationStatistical physicsPlasmaAdvectionMechanicsComputer scienceNuclear physicsQuantum mechanicsAlgorithmMagnetic confinement fusion researchLaser-Plasma Interactions and DiagnosticsIonosphere and magnetosphere dynamics