The most efficient and promising operational regime for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor tokamak is the high-confinement mode. In this regime, however, periodic relaxations of the plasma edge can occur. These edge-localized modes pose a threat to the integrity of the fusion device. Here we reveal the strong impact of energetic ions on the spatio-temporal structure of edge-localized modes in tokamaks using nonlinear hybrid kinetic–magnetohydrodynamic simulations. A resonant interaction between the fast ions at the plasma edge and the electromagnetic perturbations from the edge-localized mode leads to an energy and momentum exchange. Energetic ions modify, for example, the amplitude, frequency spectrum and crash timing of edge-localized modes. The simulations reproduce some observations that feature abrupt and large edge-localized mode crashes. The results indicate that, in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a strong interaction between the fusion-born alpha particles and ions from neutral beam injection, a main heating and fast particle source, is expected with predicted edge-localized mode perturbations. This work advances the understanding of the physics underlying edge-localized mode crashes in the presence of energetic particles and highlights the importance of including energetic ion kinetic effects in the optimization of edge-localized mode control techniques and regimes that are free of such modes.

Effect of energetic ions on edge-localized modes in tokamak plasmas / Dominguez-Palacios, J., Futatani, S., Garcia-Munoz, M., Jansen van Vuuren, A., Viezzer, E., Gonzalez-Martin, J., Toscano-Jimenez, M., Oyola, P., Todo, Y., Suzuki, Y., Sanchis, L., Rueda-Rueda, J., Galdon-Quiroga, J., Hidalgo-Salaverri, J., Chen, H., Rivero-Rodriguez, J.F., Velarde, L., Zoletnik, S., Zohm, H., Zito, A., et al.. - In: NATURE PHYSICS. - ISSN 1745-2473. - 21:1(2025), pp. 43-51. [10.1038/s41567-024-02715-6]

Effect of energetic ions on edge-localized modes in tokamak plasmas

Ambrosino R.;Albanese R.;
2025

Abstract

The most efficient and promising operational regime for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor tokamak is the high-confinement mode. In this regime, however, periodic relaxations of the plasma edge can occur. These edge-localized modes pose a threat to the integrity of the fusion device. Here we reveal the strong impact of energetic ions on the spatio-temporal structure of edge-localized modes in tokamaks using nonlinear hybrid kinetic–magnetohydrodynamic simulations. A resonant interaction between the fast ions at the plasma edge and the electromagnetic perturbations from the edge-localized mode leads to an energy and momentum exchange. Energetic ions modify, for example, the amplitude, frequency spectrum and crash timing of edge-localized modes. The simulations reproduce some observations that feature abrupt and large edge-localized mode crashes. The results indicate that, in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a strong interaction between the fusion-born alpha particles and ions from neutral beam injection, a main heating and fast particle source, is expected with predicted edge-localized mode perturbations. This work advances the understanding of the physics underlying edge-localized mode crashes in the presence of energetic particles and highlights the importance of including energetic ion kinetic effects in the optimization of edge-localized mode control techniques and regimes that are free of such modes.
2025
Effect of energetic ions on edge-localized modes in tokamak plasmas / Dominguez-Palacios, J., Futatani, S., Garcia-Munoz, M., Jansen van Vuuren, A., Viezzer, E., Gonzalez-Martin, J., Toscano-Jimenez, M., Oyola, P., Todo, Y., Suzuki, Y., Sanchis, L., Rueda-Rueda, J., Galdon-Quiroga, J., Hidalgo-Salaverri, J., Chen, H., Rivero-Rodriguez, J.F., Velarde, L., Zoletnik, S., Zohm, H., Zito, A., et al.. - In: NATURE PHYSICS. - ISSN 1745-2473. - 21:1(2025), pp. 43-51. [10.1038/s41567-024-02715-6]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11588/999894
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