Generation of Geodesic Acoustic Modes in ITG turbulence

Abstract

The generation of geodesic acoustic modes (GAM) is studied by means of numerical simulations of a 3D fluid global model, describing flux‐driven electrostatic ITG (Ion Temperature Gradient) turbulence in the core of tokamak plasmas. The model evolves the equilibrium and the perturbed fields as a whole. The coupling of poloidal harmonics induced by the curvature thus results in the presence of both turbulent and neoclassical transport effects in the system. The neoclassical thermal conductivity, which is linked to the time‐independent component of the poloidal modulation of the equilibrium fields, is observed to be of the order of the turbulent one, in a system driven by strong injected heat fluxes. The frequency spectrum of the electrostatic potential fluctuations exhibits a peak near the theoretical GAM frequency. In the turbulent stationary state of the simulations a downshift of the GAM frequency is observed.