ATEP: an advanced transport model for energetic particles

Abstract

In this paper we report on the implementation and verification of a phase-space resolved energetic particle (EP) transport model. It is based on a first-principle theoretical framework, i.e. the system of non-linear gyrokinetic equations and the related transport equations. Its focus is primarily directed toward understanding the meso-scale character of EPs and its consequences. Compared to the conventional description of thermal radial transport via a one-dimensional radial diffusion equation, the newly developed model is three-dimensional using canonical constants-of-motion (CoM) variables. The model does not assume diffusive processes to be dominant a priori, instead the EP fluxes are self-consistently calculated and directly evolved in CoM space. We use the EP-Stability workflow and the HAGIS code to determine the phase space fluxes explicitly either in the limit of constant mode amplitudes or an energy-conserving quasi-linear model. As an application of the model the transport of neutral-beam-generated EPs due to a toroidal Alfvén eigenmode in an ITER plasma is investigated. As there are no sources and collisions taken into account so far (for an extension of the model see the companion paper (Meng et al 2024 Nucl. Fusion accepted)), the results cannot be considered as an exhaustive study, but rather as a practical demonstration of the conceptual framework on the way to a comprehensive reduced description of burning plasmas.