Fully nonlinear δf gyrokinetics for scrape-off layer parallel transport

Abstract

Edge plasmas present a few challenges for gyrokinetic simulations that are absent in tokamak cores. Among them are large fluctuation amplitudes and plasma-wall interactions in the open field line region. In this paper, the widely used core turbulence code GENE, which employs a δf-splitting technique, is extended to simulate open systems with large electrostatic fluctuations. With inclusion and proper discretization of the parallel nonlinear term, it becomes equivalent to a full-f code and the δf-splitting causes no fundamental difficulty in handling large fluctuations. The loss of particles to the wall is accounted for by using a logical sheath boundary, which is implemented in the context of a finite-volume method. The extended GENE code is benchmarked for the well-established one-dimensional parallel transport problem in the scrape-off layer during edge-localized modes. The parallel heat flux deposited onto the divertor target is compared with previous simulation results and shows good agreement.