A Dip Structure in the Intrinsic Toroidal Rotation Near the Edge of the Ohmic Plasmas in EAST

Ion＇s toroidal velocity, vt, in both the outermost 4 cm of the confined region and the scrap-off layer of Ohmic L-mode plasmas in EAST was measured using Mach probes. At about 1 cm inside the separatrix a local minimum in vt was observed, from which a cocurrent rotation increased both inwards and outwards. The radial width of the vt dip was 1 cm to 2 cm, and both the density and electron temperature profiles exhibited steep gradients at this dip position. It was observed in both divertor and limiter configurations. To find out its origin, the toroidal torques induced by neutral friction, neoclassical viscosity, collisional perpendicular shear viscosity, ion orbit loss and turbulent Reynolds stress were estimated using the measured parameters. Our results indicate that in this particular parameter regime the neutral friction was the dominant damping force. The calculated cocurrent toroidal torque by the neoclassical viscosity dominates over those from the collisional perpendicular shear viscosity, ion orbit loss and turbulent Reynolds stress. These results are potentially important for the understanding of boundary conditions for the intrinsic toroidal momentum in tokamak plasmas.

Toroidal rotation induced by 4.6 GHz lower hybrid current drive on EAST tokamak

Using a tangentially viewing x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer, substantial co-current rotation driven by lower hybrid current drive（LHCD） at 4.6 GHz is observed on EAST tokamak. This study presents plasma rotation behaviors with 4.6 GHz LHCD injection. Typically, the 10-20 km/s co-current rotation change and the transport of rotation velocity from edge to core are observed. The relationship between plasma parameters and rotation is also investigated, indicating that rotation decreases with increasing internal inductance（li） and increases with increasing safety factor（q0）. Hysteresis between rotation and Te plasma stored energy is observed, suggesting different response times between the electron heating and rotation acceleration by LHCD. A comparison between the rotations driven by 4.6 G LHCD and 2.45 G LHCD on EAST is also presented, in which higher frequency LHCD could induce more rotation changes.

Gyrokinetic theory of turbulent acceleration and momentum conservation in tokamak plasmas

Understanding the generation of inmnsic rotation in tokamak plasmas is crucial for future fusion reactors such as ITER. We proposed a new mechanism named turbulent acceleration for the origin of the intrinsic parallel rotation based on gyrokinetic theory. The turbulent acceleration acts as a local source or sink of parallel rotation, i.e., volume force, which is different from the divergence of residual stress, i.e., surface force. However, the order of magnitude of turbulent acceleration can be comparable to that of the divergence of residual stress for electrostatic ion temperature gradient （ITG） turbulence. A possible theoretical explanation for the experimental observation of electron cyclotron heating induced decrease of co-current rotation was also proposed via comparison between the turbulent acceleration driven by 1TG turbulence and that driven by collisionless trapped electron mode turbulence. We also extended this theory to electromagnetic ITG turbulence and investigated the electromagnetic effects on intrinsic parallel rotation drive. Finally, we demonstrated that the presence of turbulent acceleration does not conflict with momentum conservation.