MHD activity triggered by monster sawtooth crashes on Tore Supra

P. Maget, J.-F. Artaud, L.-G. Eriksson, G.T.A. Huysmans, A. Lazaros, P. Moreau, M. Ottaviani, J.-L. Segui, W. Zwingmann

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The crash of monster sawteeth in Tore Supra ion cyclotron resonance heated plasmas is observed to trigger long-lived magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) activity, dominated by a (m = 3, n = 2) magnetic perturbation at the edge. This phenomenon is reminiscent of the triggering of neoclassical tearing modes, although in Tore Supra the MHD activity decays and eventually vanishes. It can be explained by the linear destabilization of the (3, 2) mode as the current sheet developed in the non-linear stage of the internal kink relaxation gets closer to q = 3/2. However, the lifetime of the (3, 2) island is longer than the period of linear instability. We find that the neoclassical drive is essential for explaining the observed lifetime and width of the island, although the overall dynamics is controlled by the relaxation of the current profile on a resistive time scale.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)357-377
JournalPlasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Volume47
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2005
Externally publishedYes

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