Fast magnetic reconnection and driven plasma rotation in reversed central magnetic shear configuration

Abstract

Numerical calculations have been carried out to study the nonlinear growth of the double tearing mode (DTM) in the reversed central magnetic shear configuration for medium-size tokamak plasma parameters, based on two-fluid equations and large aspect ratio approximation. Three different regimes of the DTM growth are found. (a) annular crash regime, existing for a small distance but a not too large plasma rotation frequency difference between two resonant surfaces. In this regime the plasma pressure between two resonant surfaces is flattened due to the fast magnetic reconnection in tens of microseconds, in agreement with experimental observations. In addition, a large plasma rotation shear is generated around the edge of the pressure flattening region right after the fast magnetic reconnection. (b) Core crash regime, existing for a medium distance and a relatively low rotation frequency difference between two resonant surfaces, in which the plasma pressure is flattened over a large region up to the magnetic axis during the fast magnetic reconnection in tens of microseconds, in agreement with experimental observation too. (c) No crash regime, existing for a sufficiently large distance and/or frequency difference between two resonant surfaces. In this regime the mode grows slowly in the nonlinear phase and saturates at a finite amplitude, causing a local flattening of the plasma pressure at the resonant surface but without fast crashes.