Experimental observations of an n = 1 helical core accompanied by a saturated m/n = 2/1 tearing mode with low mode frequencies in JT-60U

Abstract

We report the experimental finding of n = 1 helical cores (HCs) accompanied by saturated m/n = 2/1 tearing modes (TMs) with low mode frequencies in JT-60U. The HCs accompanied by TMs were observed after an increase in the mode amplitude and a decrease in the mode frequency of m/n = 2/1 precursors with tearing parity. The decreased mode frequency is typically lower than 20 Hz. With various diagnostics, the coupling of n = 1 HCs and m/n = 2/1 TMs has been clearly observed. Because the coherent oscillations in the ion temperature are observed in both the core region and the edge region, the flux surfaces including the m/n = 2/1 magnetic island appear to have m = 1 helical deformation. It has also been suggested that the m/n = 2/1 TM and the HC rotate in the electron diamagnetic direction keeping fm/n=1/1(HC) = 2fm/n=2/1(TM) in several plasmas. Here, fm/n=1/1(HC) is the mode frequency of HCs and fm/n=2/1(TM) is the mode frequency of TMs. In addition, the core seems to be shifted to the high-field side when the O-points of the m/n = 2/1 magnetic island line up in the midplane, which is confirmed by reconstructions of magnetohydrodynamic equilibria with motional Stark effect measurement and the MEUDAS code. Our observation of m/n = 2/1 TMs having HCs contributes to the understanding of the excitation mechanism of HCs in tokamak plasmas.