Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Hillesheim, J C
• DeBoo, J C
• Peebles, W A
• Carter, T A
• Wang, G
• Rhodes, T L
• Schmitz, L
• McKee, G R
• Yan, Z
• Staebler, G M
• Burrell, K H
• Doyle, E J
• Holland, C
• Petty, C C
• Smith, S P
• White, A E
• Zeng, L

Titel

Observation of a critical gradient threshold for electron temperature fluctuations in the DIII-D Tokamak

Ist Teil von

• Physical review letters, 2013-01, Vol.110 (4), p.045003-045003, Article 045003

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Physical Society

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Quelle

APS: American Physical Society E-Journals (Physics)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• A critical gradient threshold has been observed for the first time in a systematic, controlled experiment for a locally measured turbulent quantity in the core of a confined high-temperature plasma. In an experiment in the DIII-D tokamak where L(T(e))(-1) = |∇T(e)|/T(e) and toroidal rotation were varied, long wavelength (k(θ)ρ(s) ≲ 0.4) electron temperature fluctuations exhibit a threshold in L(T(e))(-1): below, they change little; above, they steadily increase. The increase in δT(e)/T(e) is concurrent with increased electron heat flux and transport stiffness. Observations were insensitive to rotation. Accumulated evidence strongly enforces the identification of the experimentally observed threshold with ∇T(e)-driven trapped electron mode turbulence.