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The current response of a hot magnetized plasma to a radio-frequency wave is non-local, turning the electromagnetic wave equation into an integro-differential equation. Non-local physics gives rise to wave physics and absorption processes not observed in local media. Furthermore, non-local physics alters wave propagation and absorption properties of the plasma. In this work, an iterative method that accounts for parallel non-local effects in 2D axisymmetric tokamak plasmas is developed, implemented, and verified. The iterative method is based on the finite element method and Fourier decomposition, with the advantage that this numerical scheme can describe non-local effects while using a high-fidelity antenna and wall representation, as well as limiting memory usage. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to a minority heating scenario in ITER to quantify how parallel non-local physics affect wave propagation and dissipation in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF). The effects are then compared to a reduced local plane wave model, both verifying the physics implemented in the model, as well as estimating how well a local plane wave approximation performs in scenarios with high single pass damping. Finally, the new version of FEMIC is benchmarked against the ICRF code TORIC., QC 20240502

The current response of a hot magnetized plasma to a radio-frequency wave is non-local, turning the electromagnetic wave equation into an integro-differential equation. Non-local physics gives rise to wave physics and absorption processes not observed in local media. Furthermore, non-local physics alters wave propagation and absorption properties of the plasma. In this work, an iterative method that accounts for parallel non-local effects in 2D axisymmetric tokamak plasmas is developed, implemented, and verified. The iterative method is based on the finite element method and Fourier decomposition, with the advantage that this numerical scheme can describe non-local effects while using a high-fidelity antenna and wall representation, as well as limiting memory usage. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to a minority heating scenario in ITER to quantify how parallel non-local physics affect wave propagation and dissipation in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF). The effects are then compared to a reduced local plane wave model, both verifying the physics implemented in the model, as well as estimating how well a local plane wave approximation performs in scenarios with high single pass damping. Finally, the new version of FEMIC is benchmarked against the ICRF code TORIC., QC 20240502

The current response of a hot magnetized plasma to a radio-frequency wave is non-local, turning the electromagnetic wave equation into an integro-differential equation. Non-local physics gives rise to wave physics and absorption processes not observed in local media. Furthermore, non-local physics alters wave propagation and absorption properties of the plasma. In this work, an iterative method that accounts for parallel non-local effects in 2D axisymmetric tokamak plasmas is developed, implemented, and verified. The iterative method is based on the finite element method and Fourier decomposition, with the advantage that this numerical scheme can describe non-local effects while using a high-fidelity antenna and wall representation, as well as limiting memory usage. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to a minority heating scenario in ITER to quantify how parallel non-local physics affect wave propagation and dissipation in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF). The effects are then compared to a reduced local plane wave model, both verifying the physics implemented in the model, as well as estimating how well a local plane wave approximation performs in scenarios with high single pass damping. Finally, the new version of FEMIC is benchmarked against the ICRF code TORIC., QC 20240502

The current response of a hot magnetized plasma to a radio-frequency wave is non-local, turning the electromagnetic wave equation into an integro-differential equation. Non-local physics gives rise to wave physics and absorption processes not observed in local media. Furthermore, non-local physics alters wave propagation and absorption properties of the plasma. In this work, an iterative method that accounts for parallel non-local effects in 2D axisymmetric tokamak plasmas is developed, implemented, and verified. The iterative method is based on the finite element method and Fourier decomposition, with the advantage that this numerical scheme can describe non-local effects while using a high-fidelity antenna and wall representation, as well as limiting memory usage. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to a minority heating scenario in ITER to quantify how parallel non-local physics affect wave propagation and dissipation in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF). The effects are then compared to a reduced local plane wave model, both verifying the physics implemented in the model, as well as estimating how well a local plane wave approximation performs in scenarios with high single pass damping. Finally, the new version of FEMIC is benchmarked against the ICRF code TORIC., QC 20240502

The current response of a hot magnetized plasma to a radio-frequency wave is non-local, turning the electromagnetic wave equation into an integro-differential equation. Non-local physics gives rise to wave physics and absorption processes not observed in local media. Furthermore, non-local physics alters wave propagation and absorption properties of the plasma. In this work, an iterative method that accounts for parallel non-local effects in 2D axisymmetric tokamak plasmas is developed, implemented, and verified. The iterative method is based on the finite element method and Fourier decomposition, with the advantage that this numerical scheme can describe non-local effects while using a high-fidelity antenna and wall representation, as well as limiting memory usage. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to a minority heating scenario in ITER to quantify how parallel non-local physics affect wave propagation and dissipation in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF). The effects are then compared to a reduced local plane wave model, both verifying the physics implemented in the model, as well as estimating how well a local plane wave approximation performs in scenarios with high single pass damping. Finally, the new version of FEMIC is benchmarked against the ICRF code TORIC., QC 20240502

Modelling the propagation and dissipation of RF waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies is challenging due to the presence of spatial dispersion. In this work, we are presenting an iterative scheme that includes dispersive effects in all tensor elements in 2D axisymmetry. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to two fast wave heating scenarios, one with an ITER-like plasma and the other with an AUG-like plasma, in order to evaluate the importance of parallel dispersion in the two different cases. It was found that parallel dispersion is of marginal importance in ITER when using dipole phasing, but has larger impact on the power deposition profiles in AUG, due to up-down asymmetric heating. Furthermore, it is shown that the described iterative method can account for mode conversion to the ion cyclotron wave., QC 20231124

Modelling the propagation and dissipation of RF waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies is challenging due to the presence of spatial dispersion. In this work, we are presenting an iterative scheme that includes dispersive effects in all tensor elements in 2D axisymmetry. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to two fast wave heating scenarios, one with an ITER-like plasma and the other with an AUG-like plasma, in order to evaluate the importance of parallel dispersion in the two different cases. It was found that parallel dispersion is of marginal importance in ITER when using dipole phasing, but has larger impact on the power deposition profiles in AUG, due to up-down asymmetric heating. Furthermore, it is shown that the described iterative method can account for mode conversion to the ion cyclotron wave., QC 20231124

Modelling the propagation and dissipation of RF waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies is challenging due to the presence of spatial dispersion. In this work, we are presenting an iterative scheme that includes dispersive effects in all tensor elements in 2D axisymmetry. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to two fast wave heating scenarios, one with an ITER-like plasma and the other with an AUG-like plasma, in order to evaluate the importance of parallel dispersion in the two different cases. It was found that parallel dispersion is of marginal importance in ITER when using dipole phasing, but has larger impact on the power deposition profiles in AUG, due to up-down asymmetric heating. Furthermore, it is shown that the described iterative method can account for mode conversion to the ion cyclotron wave., QC 20231124

Modelling the propagation and dissipation of RF waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies is challenging due to the presence of spatial dispersion. In this work, we are presenting an iterative scheme that includes dispersive effects in all tensor elements in 2D axisymmetry. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to two fast wave heating scenarios, one with an ITER-like plasma and the other with an AUG-like plasma, in order to evaluate the importance of parallel dispersion in the two different cases. It was found that parallel dispersion is of marginal importance in ITER when using dipole phasing, but has larger impact on the power deposition profiles in AUG, due to up-down asymmetric heating. Furthermore, it is shown that the described iterative method can account for mode conversion to the ion cyclotron wave., QC 20231124

Modelling the propagation and dissipation of RF waves in the ion cyclotron range of frequencies is challenging due to the presence of spatial dispersion. In this work, we are presenting an iterative scheme that includes dispersive effects in all tensor elements in 2D axisymmetry. The proposed method is implemented in the existing full wave solver FEMIC and applied to two fast wave heating scenarios, one with an ITER-like plasma and the other with an AUG-like plasma, in order to evaluate the importance of parallel dispersion in the two different cases. It was found that parallel dispersion is of marginal importance in ITER when using dipole phasing, but has larger impact on the power deposition profiles in AUG, due to up-down asymmetric heating. Furthermore, it is shown that the described iterative method can account for mode conversion to the ion cyclotron wave., QC 20231124

Ion cyclotron resonance heating is a versatile heating method that has been demonstrated to be able to efficiently couple power directly to the ions via the fast magnetosonic wave. However, at temperatures relevant for reactor grade devices such as DEMO, electron damping becomes increasingly important. To reduce electron damping, it is possible to use an antenna with a power spectrum dominated by low parallel wavenumbers. Moreover, using an antenna with a unidirectional spectrum, such as a travelling wave antenna, the parallel wavenumber can be downshifted by mounting the antenna in an elevated position relative to the equatorial plane. This downshift can potentially enhance ion heating as well as fast wave current drive efficiency. Thus, such a system could benefit ion heating during the ramp-up phase and be used for current drive during flat-top operation. To test this principle, both ion heating and current drive have been simulated in a DEMO-like plasma for a few different mounting positions of the antenna using the FEMIC code. We find that moving the antenna off the equatorial plane makes ion heating more efficient for all considered plasma temperatures at the expense of on-axis heating. Moreover, although current drive efficiency is enhanced, electron damping is reduced for lower mode numbers, thus reducing the driven current in this part of the spectrum., QC 20241230