Evolution Of Magnetic Islands Research Articles

Statistical analysis of locked mode induced disruption in EAST

The effects of key parameters on locked mode induced disruption (LMiD) are investigated in EAST experiments. The experimental data for locked mode are collected from 2015 to 2022 when the externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation is successfully employed in EAST. In this dataset, ∼42% of the total shots are LMiD, while the remaining 58% are LM without disruption. To better analyze the LMiD, an intuitive physical process is proposed. The LMiD process can be divided into two stages, the evolution of magnetic islands and the loss of plasma stored energy. The LMiD can also be related to the evolution of the other 8 physical quantities. On the basis of this physical process analysis, the time scale and the influencing factors for LMiD are investigated using statistical analysis. It is found that the density (ne), the distance from the magnetic island outer boundary to the plasma last closed surface (dedge), the loop-voltage (Vloop), and the plasma core electron temperature (Te), which are consistent with the intuitive physical model, are key parameters to LMiD. In addition, other potentially important parameters, the relevant reasons, and statistical analysis on the parameter intervals where rapid disruption with greater harmfulness occurred have also been investigated.

Localization of beam generated whistler wave and turbulence generation in reconnection region of magnetopause

Whistler waves have been studied for many years in relation to turbulence and particle heating, and observations show that they are crucial to magnetic reconnection. Recent research has revealed a close relationship between magnetic reconnection and turbulence. The current work investigates the whistler turbulence caused by the energetic electron beam in the magnetic reconnection sites of magnetopause and also due to dynamic evolution of magnetic islands. For this, we develop a model based upon the two-fluid approximation to study whistler dynamics, propagating in the medium with the pre-existing chain of magnetic islands and under the influence of background density perturbation originating from ponderomotive nonlinearity of wave. Dynamics of nonlinear whistler have been solved with pseudo-spectral approach and a finite difference method with a modified predictor–corrector method and a Runge Kutta method for the semianalytical model. In the current research, we study how the nonlinear whistler wave contributes to the significant space phenomenon, i.e., turbulence, localization, and magnetic reconnection. We have also investigated the formation of a current sheet in a magnetopause region of the order of few-electron inertial length. We analyzed the power spectrum at the magnetopause when the system reached a quasi-steady condition. Our new approach to study whistler turbulence by an energetic electron beam at the magnetic reconnection sites has extensive applications to space plasmas, shedding a new light on the study of magnetic reconnection in nature.

Turbulence generation of ion scale in the presence of magnetic islands and guide field at the magnetopause region

In the present work, turbulence generation due to the dynamic evolution of magnetic islands is investigated. The role of ambient magnetic field in the evolution of magnetic islands and turbulence generation is also investigated. The origin of magnetic islands lies in the fact that reconnection takes place in thin current sheets which becomes unstable and leads to the formation of magnetic islands. The model is developed using basic fluid equations and Maxwell’s equations to study the dynamics of magnetic islands. The dynamical equation has been solved numerically for two different cases: (a) background field consisting of Harris equilibrium field component only and (b) background field comprising of both axial and Harris equilibrium field. It is evident from our investigation that the evolution of magnetic islands establishes the presence of turbulence in reconnection sites. Using the simulation data, we have also examined the associated power spectrum which displays the distribution of energy in different wave modes. This spectral index has consistency with THEMIS observations (Chaston et al. 2008, Nat. Phys. 4, 19). In this way, the present approach may be helpful to understand the interplay between magnetic reconnection and turbulence in magnetopause region.

Effects of plasma turbulence on the nonlinear evolution of magnetic island in tokamak

Magnetic islands (MIs), resulting from a magnetic field reconnection, are ubiquitous structures in magnetized plasmas. In tokamak plasmas, recent researches suggested that the interaction between an MI and ambient turbulence can be important for the nonlinear MI evolution, but a lack of detailed experimental observations and analyses has prevented further understanding. Here, we provide comprehensive observations such as turbulence spreading into an MI and turbulence enhancement at the reconnection site, elucidating intricate effects of plasma turbulence on the nonlinear MI evolution.

Comparative Analysis of the Vlasiator Simulations and MMS Observations of Multiple X-Line Reconnection and Flux Transfer Events.

The Vlasiator hybrid‐Vlasov code was developed to investigate global magnetospheric dynamics at ion‐kinetic scales. Here we focus on the role of magnetic reconnection in the formation and evolution of magnetic islands at the low‐latitude magnetopause, under southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. The simulation results indicate that (1) the magnetic reconnection ion kinetics, including the Earthward pointing Larmor electric field on the magnetospheric side of an X‐point and anisotropic ion distributions, are well‐captured by Vlasiator, thus enabling the study of reconnection‐driven magnetic island evolution processes, (2) magnetic islands evolve due to continuous reconnection at adjacent X‐points, “coalescence” which refers to the merging of neighboring islands to create a larger island, “erosion” during which an island loses magnetic flux due to reconnection, and “division” which involves the splitting of an island into smaller islands, and (3) continuous reconnection at adjacent X‐points is the dominant source of magnetic flux and plasma to the outer layers of magnetic islands resulting in cross‐sectional growth rates up to + 0.3 RE 2/min. The simulation results are compared to the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) measurements of a chain of ion‐scale flux transfer events (FTEs) sandwiched between two dominant X‐lines. The MMS measurements similarly reveal (1) anisotropic ion populations and (2) normalized reconnection rate ~0.18, in agreement with theory and the Vlasiator predictions. Based on the simulation results and the MMS measurements, it is estimated that the observed ion‐scale FTEs may grow Earth‐sized within ~10 min, which is comparable to the average transport time for FTEs formed in the subsolar region to the high‐latitude magnetopause. Future simulations shall revisit reconnection‐driven island evolution processes with improved spatial resolutions.

Turbulence generation in the magnetopause on account of magnetic islands

The present model is proposed to study the effect of thickness of Harris sheet and strength of guide field on the evolution of magnetic islands and generation of turbulence in magnetic reconnection sites. The governing model equation has been derived using EMHD model in the presence of the equilibrium magnetic field, consisting of guide field and shear field in the Harris sheet. We have carried out a numerical simulation of the dynamical equation for magnetopause region parameters. Simulation results reveal that as the thickness of Harris sheet increases, the intensity of evolution of magnetic islands decreases, but with increasing strength of guide field, intensity gradually increases and at later times irregular structures are formed. These structures give the indication of turbulence in magnetic reconnection site. Further, we have calculated power spectrum, which follows power index \({\sim}\,{-}1.5\) in the inertial range.

Neoclassical tearing mode seeding by coupling with infernal modes in low-shear tokamaks

A numerical and an analytical study of the triggering of resistive MHD modes in tokamak plasmas with low magnetic shear core is presented. Flat q profiles give rise to fast growing pressure driven MHD modes, such as infernal modes. It has been shown that infernal modes drive fast growing islands on neighbouring rational surfaces. Numerical simulations of such instabilities in a MAST-like configuration are performed with the initial value stability code XTOR-2F in the resistive frame. The evolution of magnetic islands are computed from XTOR-2F simulations and an analytical model is developed based on Rutherford’s theory in combination with a model of resistive infernal modes. The parameter is extended from the linear phase to the non-linear phase. Additionally, the destabilising contribution due to a helically perturbed bootstrap current is considered. Comparing the numerical XTOR-2F simulations to the model, we find that coupling has a strong destabilising effect on (neoclassical) tearing modes and is able to seed 2/1 magnetic islands in situations when the standard NTM theory predicts stability.

Interplay between intrinsic plasma rotation and magnetic island evolution in disruptive discharges

The behavior of the intrinsic toroidal rotation of the plasma column during the growth and eventual saturation of m/n = 2/1 magnetic islands, triggered by programmed density rise, has been carefully investigated in disruptive discharges in TCABR. The results show that, as the island starts to grow and rotate at a speed larger than that of the plasma column, the angular frequency of the intrinsic toroidal rotation increases and that of the island decreases, following the expectation of synchronization. As the island saturates at a large size, just before a major disruption, the angular speed of the intrinsic rotation decreases quite rapidly, even though the island keeps still rotating at a reduced speed. This decrease of the toroidal rotation is quite reproducible and can be considered as an indicative of disruption.

Interplay between Intrinsic Plasma Rotation and Magnetic Island Evolution in Disruptive Discharges

Interplay between Intrinsic Plasma Rotation and Magnetic Island Evolution in Disruptive Discharges

Kinetic simulations of secondary reconnection in the reconnection jet

AbstractMagnetic reconnection, as one important energy dissipation process in plasmas, has been extensively studied in the past several decades. Magnetic reconnection occurring in the downstream of a primary X line is referred to as secondary reconnection. In this paper, we used kinetic simulations to investigate the secondary reconnection in detail. We found that secondary reconnection is reversed by the compression caused by the outflowing jet originating from the primary reconnection site, which results in the erosion of the magnetic island between the two X lines within ~3 ωci−1. We show the observational signatures expected in electromagnetic fields and plasma measurements in the Earth's magnetotail, associated with this mechanism. These simulation results could be applied to interpret the signatures associated with the evolution of earthward magnetic islands in the Earth's magnetotail.

Report on recent results obtained in TCABR

Recent results of experimental work and theoretical modeling carried out in the TCABR tokamak are reported on characterization of MHD instabilities, improved diagnostics of rotation of the plasma column, excitation of Alven global modes, identification of GAMs, and the effect of rotation on their behavior. Detailed measurements of edge electrostatic perturbations and of magnetic island evolution and rotation indicate that the edge turbulence is substantially affected by the islands growth, leading to a strong modulation of the edge particle losses at the same frequency of the MHD activity. Measurements with spatial resolution also show that the growth of the MHD activity is due to nonlinear coupling of magnetic islands with different poloidal mode numbers, which increases the impurity influx. A new system of data acquisition and processing of the TCABR plasma rotation diagnostic was implemented. The system is based upon a single monochromator coupled with six photomultipliers tubes and allows one toroidal and two poloidal simultaneous rotation measurements. The excitation of Global Alfven Waves - GAW has been investigated, using a new type of radio frequency amplifier. The GAW resonances are searched either by a pre-programmed density variation, at fixed generator frequency, or through three RF frequency sweeps from 2 to 4.5 MHz, at stationary density. GAW resonances have been found and their somewhat new characteristics are presented. The investigation of the effect of poloidal and toroidal rotation on the characteristics of the geodesic acoustic mode has been investigated, both theoretically and experimentally. It is found that the assumption of isothermal flux surfaces gives rise to a third branch of this mode. Detailed predictions coupled with experimental measurements are currently being carried out to investigate this question.

Experiment and simulation of tearing mode evolution with electron cyclotron current drive in KSTAR

The tearing mode (TM) plasma instability was observed in low confinement (L-mode) plasmas when non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbation (MP) was applied using external coils during 2011 campaign of KSTAR. Based on the collected information of the magnetic island location in a plasma, a discharge was designed for suppression of a (2,1) TM mode by adjusting electron cyclotron (EC) launcher angles to the estimated island position. Here, the (m,n) notation describes the poloidal mode number and the toroidal mode number of the TM, respectively. The discharge is analysed with experimental observations and numerical simulations. Mirnov coil (MC) arrays and electron cyclotron emission (ECE) are used for analysis of the island width and the location as well as the mode number. The EC deposition and its alignment with the island are estimated by X-ray imaging crystal spectroscopy (XICS) and ECE measurements. An integrated numerical system is employed for modelling of this discharge to analyse a temporal evolution of the mode activity by integrating plasma equilibrium, transport, heating and current drive, and the magnetic island evolution, in a self-consistent way. The effect of EC current drive is discussed by comparing with another TM discharge but without ECCD. Some possibilities for classifying this mode to neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) and stabilisation effect of ECCD are suggested based on the experimental observation and the simulation results.

The deceiving Δ′: On the equilibrium dependent dynamics of nonlinear magnetic islands

The linear stability parameter Δ′ is commonly used as a figure of merit for the nonlinear dynamics of the tearing mode. It is shown, through numerical simulations, that factors other than Δ′ can play a very important role in determining the evolution of nonlinear magnetic islands, even relatively close to marginal stability. In particular, two different equilibria are analysed and it is shown that, once perturbed, they have a qualitatively and quantitatively different response despite the fact that they are characterised by the same Δ′. However, the different behaviour can still be associated with linear properties of the equilibrium. It is also studied how the nonlinear and saturation phase are affected by an increasing Δ′ in the two equilibria. As the instability drive is increased, the systems move from a dynamics characterised by a “universal” generalised Rutherford equation to a Y-point configuration and then to a plasmoid unstable Y-point. Remarkably, in certain configurations the Rutherford phase is absent and the system forms a current ribbon without an X-point collapse.

Simulation of magnetic island dynamics under resonant magnetic perturbation with the TEAR code and validation of the results on T-10 tokamak data

Simulation of the magnetic island evolution under Resonant Magnetic Perturbation (RMP) in rotating T-10 tokamak plasma is presented with intent of TEAR code experimental validation. In the T-10 experiment chosen for simulation, the RMP consists of a stationary error field, a magnetic field of the eddy current in the resistive vacuum vessel and magnetic field of the externally applied controlled halo current in the plasma scrape-off layer (SOL). The halo-current loop consists of a rail limiter, plasma SOL, vacuum vessel, and external part of the circuit. Effects of plasma resistivity, viscosity, and RMP are taken into account in the TEAR code based on the two-fluid MHD approximation. Radial distribution of the magnetic flux perturbation is calculated with account of the externally applied RMP. A good agreement is obtained between the simulation results and experimental data for the cases of preprogrammed and feedback-controlled halo current in the plasma SOL.

Nonlinear response of magnetic islands to localized electron cyclotron current injection

The magnetic island evolution under the action of a current generated externally by electron cyclotron wave beams is studied using a reduced resistive magnetohydrodynamics plasma model. The use of a two-dimensional reconnection model shows novel features of the actual nonlinear evolution as compared to the zero-dimensional model of the generalized Rutherford equation. When the radio frequency control is applied to a small magnetic island, the complete annihilation of the island width is followed by a spatial phase shift of the island, referred as “flip” instability. On the other hand, a current-drive injection in a large nonlinear island can be accompanied by the occurrence of a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. These effects need to be taken into account in designing tearing mode control systems based on radio frequency current-drive.

Response of microscale turbulence and transport to the evolution of resistive magnetohydrodynamic magnetic island

Nonlinear evolution of microscale turbulence interacting with a naturally growing MHD magnetic island is simulated based on a Landau-fluid model. Here, we report on a new short wavelength magnetic-island-induced ion temperature gradient (ITG) instability triggered by a critical threshold of magnetic island width in multiscale turbulence, which is referred to as sw-MITG mode. The sw-MITG mode is characterized by a substantially low stability threshold and a global structure propagating along the ion diamagnetic drift direction. Its generation results from the response of microscale fluctuations to turbulent cross-field heat transport associated with increasing boundary layer width about the island separatrix. An intermittency of heat transport is caused by the sw-MITG mode interacting with dynamical magnetic island and microturbulence.

Global current profile effects on the evolution and saturation of magnetic islands

The nonlinear evolution of magnetic islands is investigated by means of numerical simulations. The growth and saturation of the island are shown to depend not only on asymptotic tearing mode stability parameter Δ′ but also on the initial global current profile. Presence of the external current sheets leads to the formation of different island state for the same value of Δ′. It is found that the flow vorticity generated by the interacting current sheets is an important feature of nonlocal interactions and nonlocal effects in magnetic islands dynamics.

MAGNETIC ISLAND DYNAMICS UNDER EXTERNAL MAGNETIC PERTURBATION IN ROTATING RESISTIVE ITER PLASMA

The modeling of the magnetic island evolution under resonant magnetic perturbations, RMP, in rotating ITER-like plasma from seed island initial generation, through appearance and development of the NTM till its locking and saturation is presented. The effects of plasma resistivity, viscosity, diamagnetic drift and the effect of the currents induced in the resistive vacuum vessel wall are taken into account. The calculations are carried out with the TEAR code based on the non-linear modified Rutherford model. The dependence of the tearing mode stability index on the angular position of the mode with respect to the RMP is taken into account. It results in deviations of the magnetic island rotation velocity from the velocity of the plasma layer in the vicinity of the rational magnetic surface. The magnetic island dynamics under RMP is analyzed for the modes originated at the q = 3/2 and q = 2 magnetic surfaces. The NTM behavior is discussed for cases of the seed island generation by different RMP sources including the coils for mitigation of the edge localized modes, ELMs.

Magnetic island evolution under the action of electron cyclotron current drive

The magnetic island evolution under the action of an externally current generated by electron cyclotron (ECCD) wave beams is studied using a reduced resistive magnetohydrodynamics (RRMHD) plasma model. We found interesting and somewhat unexpected features of the actual nonlinear 2-D evolution of the magnetic perturbation depending on the injection time of the radio frequency control. In particular in the linear phase of the magnetic island growth we observe that the complete annihilation of the island width is followed by a spatial phase shift of the island, referred as "flip"instability. On the other hand, a current drive deposition in the Rutherford regime can be accompained by the occurrence of a Kelvin-Helmholtz type shear flow instability, responsible for the onset of a plasma turbulent behavior.

Magnetic island evolution in hot ion plasmas

Effects of finite ion temperature on magnetic island evolution are studied by means of numerical simulations of a reduced set of two-fluid equations which include ion as well as electron diamagnetism in slab geometry. The polarization current is found to be almost an order of magnitude larger in hot than in cold ion plasmas, due to the strong shear of ion velocity around the separatrix of the magnetic islands. As a function of the island width, the propagation speed decreases from the electron drift velocity (for islands thinner than the Larmor radius) to values close to the guiding-center velocity (for islands of order 10 times the Larmor radius). In the latter regime, the polarization current is destabilizing (i.e., it drives magnetic island growth). This is in contrast to cold ion plasmas, where the polarization current is generally found to have a healing effect on freely propagating magnetic island.