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We study the absorption of an intense electromagnetic wave in a plasma by inverse bremsstrahlung, in the relativistic quantum regime, by using the Klein-Gordon (KG) equation. We examine the following points: (1) the solutions of the KG equation in the absence of collisions; (2) the transition probabilities between electron momentum states, and (3) the effective collision frequency in the weak and strong field limits.

A frequency scanning O-mode reflectometer was used for studies of plasma density oscillations during local Alfvén wave (LAW) excitation in the Tokamak Chauffage Alfvén Brésilien (TCABR) at the frequency f(A) = 5 MHz. It was found that the spectrum of the reflectometer output signal, which consists mainly of the "beat" frequency f(B), is modified by the LAW excitation, and two additional frequency peaks appear, which are symmetrical in relation to the LAW excitation frequency f = f(A) ± f(B). This result opens the possibility to improve the efficiency of studying the LAW induced density oscillations. The symmetry of these frequency peaks yields the possibility of finding the microwave frequency at which the reflectometer cutoff layer coincides with radial position of the LAW resonance zone in the TCABR tokamak.

We present the first simultaneous measurements of the Thomson scattering and electron cyclotron emission radiometer diagnostics performed at TCABR tokamak with Alfvén wave heating. The Thomson scattering diagnostic is an upgraded version of the one previously installed at the ISTTOK tokamak, while the electron cyclotron emission radiometer employs a heterodyne sweeping radiometer. For purely Ohmic discharges, the electron temperature measurements from both diagnostics are in good agreement. Additional Alfvén wave heating does not affect the capability of the Thomson scattering diagnostic to measure the instantaneous electron temperature, whereas measurements from the electron cyclotron emission radiometer become underestimates of the actual temperature values.

The method for plasma rotation measurement in the tokamak TCABR is reported in this article. During a discharge, an optical spectrometer is used to scan sequentially spectral lines of plasma impurities and spectral lines of a calibration lamp. Knowing the scanning velocity of the diffraction grating of the spectrometer with adequate precision, the Doppler shifts of impurity lines are determined. The photomultiplier output voltage signals are recorded with adequate sampling rate. With this method the residual poloidal and toroidal plasma rotation velocities were determined, assuming that they are the same as those of the impurity ions. The results show reasonable agreement with the neoclassical theory and with results from similar tokamaks.