3

Consider an axially symmetric, toroidal, magnetized plasma with some safety factor (q) profile. A flux surface has q=m/n where m is the number of toroidal transits and n is the number of poloidal transits for a magnetic field line.

Why do the dominant modes have low m and n? For example, q=99/100 and q=1/1 have almost the same curvature, but q=1/1 is the more important mode when considering instabilities.

cpc333
  • 1,137
  • This sounds like a Tokamak question, am I correct? If so, then I have a few guesses, but they would be significantly improved if a few things were explained more clearly in your question. My initial guess is that higher m,n modes attenuate over shorter spatial scales. In a Tokamak plasma, that would be cm's to mm's (or perhaps even less… I forgot what the typical Debye/inertial lengths are in most Tokamaks). So my guess is that lower m,n modes are more important for confinement and higher m,n modes play a role in heating (there may also be growth rate differences). – honeste_vivere May 12 '15 at 11:57
  • Yes tokamak / magnetized plasma confinement question. – cpc333 May 12 '15 at 16:11

0 Answers0