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A radiative collapse predictor has been developed using a machine-learning model based on high-density plasma experiments in the Large Helical Device (LHD). Concurrently, the physical background of radiative collapse was discussed based on the distinct features extracted by a sparse modeling, which is one of the frameworks of data-driven science. Electron density, CIV and OV line emissions, and electron temperature at the plasma edge have been extracted as the key parameters of radiative collapse. Those parameters are relevant to the physical knowledge that the major cause of radiative collapse is the enhancement of radiative loss by light impurities in the plasma-edge region. Using these four parameters, the likelihood of occurrence of radiative collapse has been estimated. The behavior of plasma at the edge—in particular, the carbon impurities outside the last closed flux surface—has been evaluated using EMC3-EIRENE code for the phase with increasing likelihood, that is, the plasma is getting close to the collapse. It is shown that the radiation caused by the C3+ ion, which corresponds to the CIV emission, is enhanced in the region where electron temperature is around 10 eV.

A unified transport model is proposed to study the physical mechanism for the formation of electron internal transport barriers (e-ITB) in helical plasmas and internal diffusion barriers (IDB) observed in the Large Helical Device (LHD). An e-ITB can be predicted with the effect of zonal flows (ZFs) in the low collisional regime when the radial variation in particle turbulent diffusivity is included. The transport analysis in this article shows that particle fueling induces IDB formation when the unified transport model is used in the high collisional regime. After particle fueling, a steep density gradient forms. To examine the density limit for the IDB in helical toroidal plasmas, the effect of radiation loss is included in a set of transport equations.

Recent two major topics of Large Helical Device (LHD) towards fusion relevant conditions, high-density operation and high-ion-temperature operation, are reported. Super dense core plasma was obtained by the combination of repetitive hydrogen ice pellet injection and high power neutral beam injection (NBI) heating. A very peaked density profile with the highest central density of 1.1 × 1021 m-3 was produced showing that the particle transport was suppressed very well in the plasma core. The spatial density profile varies as the position of magnetic axis (Rax), and the steepest profile is obtained at Rax = 3.95 m. The highest central ion temperature of 5.6 keV was obtained in hydrogen plasma at electron density of 1.6 × 1019 m-3 by NBI, where a peaked ion-temperature profile with internal ion energy transport barrier was observed. The profile of electron temperature did not change much and was broad even when the ion temperature had a peaked profile. The central ion temperature is higher than the electron temperature, which is a new operation regime of LHD. High central ion temperature accompanied strong toroidal rotation and an extreme hollow profile of carbon ions (impurity hole). These steep temperature profiles were obtained so far at around Rax = 3.6 m. The compatibility between particle and energy confinement is a new issue of LHD to explore a new operation regime for attractive fusion reactor.

In the Large Helical Device (LHD), the hot plasma column shrinks at the high-density regime and complete detachment takes place. Hydrogen volume recombination is observed at complete detachment. This phase is self-sustained under specific experimental conditions and called the Serpens mode (self-regulated plasma edge ‘neath the last-closed-flux-surface). The Serpens mode is achieved after either rapid or slow density ramp up, and either by hydrogen or helium gas puffing. The threshold conditions for complete detachment and the Serpens mode are experimentally documented in the parameter space of heating power and density. The threshold density for the Serpens mode transition increases with ∼ 0.4 power of the heating power. The total radiation is shown to be not adequate to describe the threshold conditions, since it mainly includes the information of very edge region outside the hot plasma column. The operational density limit in LHD, which is sustainable in steady state, has been extended to 1.7 times as high as the Sudo density limit, by applying pellet injection to the Serpens plasmas.

Steady state densities of up to 1.6 × 1020 m-3 have been sustained using gas puff fuelling and NBI heating up to 11 MW in the Large Helical Device (LHD). The density limit in LHD is observed to be greater than 1.6 times the Sudo limit. The density is ultimately limited by a radiating collapse which is attributed to the onset of a radiative thermal instability of the light impurities in the edge region of the plasma based on several recent observations in LHD. First of all the onset of the radiative thermal instability is tied to a certain edge temperature threshold. Secondly, the onset of the thermal instability occurs first in oxygen and then carbon as expected from their cooling rate temperature dependencies. Finally, radiation profiles show that as the temperature drops and the plasma collapses the radiating zone broadens and moves inward. In addition, comparison of impurity lines with the total radiated power behaviour suggests that carbon is the dominant radiator. Two dimensional tomographic inversions of Absolute eXtreme UltraViolet Diode (AXUVD) array data and comparison of modelling with images of radiation brightness from imaging bolometers indicate that the poloidal asymmetry which accompanies the radiating collapse is roughly toroidally symmetric.