Abstract
The MHD model enables derivation and analysis of the rich structure of geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs) and zonal modes in axisymmetric magnetic confined plasmas. The modes are identifiable from a single dispersion relation as two branches of slow magnetosonic continua. The lower frequency branch can be identified as a zonal flow (ZF), which in the simplified limit of static plasmas, has vanishing magnetic component. It is shown in this contribution that axisymmetric, and lesser known non-axisymmetric, zonal modes can be derived from MHD and kinetic models. The work provides a comprehensive derivation of the GAMs and ZF continua in stationary toroidally rotating plasmas, and investigates the exact solution and structure of a generalised family of zonal modes in static equilibria.
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