Electrical conductivity in tokamaks and extended neoclassical theory

Abstract

The electrical conductivity measurements reported from various tokamaks (D-III, PLT, TEXT, ASDEX, JT-60, TEXTOR, JET, TFTR) and compared with the usual neoclassical theory are here also compared with the extended neoclassical theory where the electron-electron collision rate is anomalous while the electron-ion collision rate remains Coulombian. It is found that, out of the 14 experiments considered, three are consistent with both the neoclassical and the extended neoclassical theories, four are consistent only with the extended neoclassical theory, and four are consistent with the neoclassical theory and also, within the experimental errors, not inconsistent with the extended neoclassical theory; the remaining three experiments appear to be incompatible with both theories. It is concluded that the extended neoclassical theory is in better agreement with conductivity experiments than the conventional neoclassical theory and, indeed, the extended theory is a serious candidate for explaining tokamak behaviour, since it accommodates naturally an anomalous electron thermal transport, which the conventional neoclassical theory is unable to do