Abstract
Interactions between MHD-scale tearing modes (TMs) and ion-gyroradius-scale trapped-electron modes (TEMs) in a fusion plasma are simulated with global gyrokinetics, using a consistent set of fixed equilibrium profiles. Unstable core TMs nonlinearly couple and transfer energy to smaller-scale stable TMs near the edge, where TEMs are present. Magnetic stochasticity from these edge TMs erodes TEM-generated zonal flows near the edge rational surfaces, leading to strongly increased electrostatic flux. This interaction of macro- and microscale modes suggests it may be possible to control microturbulence through current-profile modifications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 015101 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 136 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2026 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2026 American Physical Society.
Funding
The authors acknowledge J.S. Sarff, C.R. Sovinec, C.C. Hegna, Z.R. William, and J.K. Anderson for fruitful discussions regarding RFP TMs and suggestions on TM modeling. Grateful appreciation is extended to T. Görler and G. Merlo for suggestions regarding computational techniques. This work has been supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences, under Award No. DE-FG02-85ER-53212, and by the National Science Foundation through ACCESS computing resources allocation No. TG-PHY130027. This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, partially funded by the European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Program (Grant Agreement No. 101052200—EUROfusion). The authors acknowledge J. S. Sarff, C. R. Sovinec, C. C. Hegna, Z. R. William, and J. K. Anderson for fruitful discussions regarding RFP TMs and suggestions on TM modeling. Grateful appreciation is extended to T. Görler and G. Merlo for suggestions regarding computational techniques. This work has been supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Fusion Energy Sciences, under Award No. DE-FG02-85ER-53212, and by the National Science Foundation through ACCESS computing resources allocation No. TG-PHY130027. This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, partially funded by the European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Program (Grant Agreement No. 101052200—EUROfusion).
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