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The kinetic-MHD hybrid simulation approach for macroscopic instabilities in plasmas can be extended to include the kinetic effects of both thermal ions and energetic ions. The new coupling scheme includes synchronization of density and parallel velocity between thermal ions and MHD, in addition to pressure coupling, to ensure the quasineutrality condition and avoid numerical errors. The new approach has been implemented in the kinetic-MHD code M3D-C1-K, and was used to study the thermal ion kinetic effects and Landau damping in fishbone modes in both DIII-D and NSTX. It is found that the thermal ion kinetic effects can cause an increase of the frequencies of the non-resonant $n=1$ fishbone modes driven by energetic particles for $q_\mathrm{min}>1$, and Landau damping can provide additional stabilization effects. A nonlinear simulation for $n=1$ fishbone mode in NSTX is also performed, and the perturbation on magnetic flux surfaces and the transport of energetic particles are calculated., Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures

Compressional Alfv\'en eigenmodes (CAE) driven by energetic ions have been observed in magnetic fusion experiments. In this paper, we show that the modes can also be driven by runaway electrons formed in post-disruption plasma, which may explain kinetic instabilities observed in DIII-D disruption experiments with massive gas injection. The mode-structure is calculated, as are the frequencies which are in agreement with experimental observations. Using a runaway electron distribution function obtained from a kinetic simulation, the mode growth rates are calculated and found to exceed the collisional damping rate when the runaway electron density exceeds a threshold value. The excitation of CAE poses a new possible approach to mitigate seed runaway electrons during the current quench and surpassing the avalanche., Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures

We investigate the effects of runaway electron current on the dispersion relation of resistive magnetohydrodynamic modes in tokamaks. We present a new theoretical model to derive the dispersion relation, which is based on the asymptotic analysis of the resistive layer structure of the modes. It is found that in addition to the conventional resistive layer, a new runaway current layer can emerge whose properties depend on the ratio of the Alfv\'en velocity to the runaway electron convection speed. Due to the contribution from this layer, both the tearing mode and kink mode will have a real frequency in addition to a growth rate. The derived dispersion relation has been compared with numerical results using both a simplified eigenvalue calculation and a M3D-C1 linear simulation, and good agreement is found in both cases., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

We present nonlinear resistive MHD simulations of the response of a rotating plasma to an error field when the plasma has weakly damped linear tearing modes (TM's), stabilized by pressure gradient and favorable curvature. Favorable curvature leads to the Glasser effect: the occurrence of real frequencies and stabilization with positive stability index $\Delta'$. A cylinder with hollow pressure is used to model the toroidal favorable curvature. Linear simulations with rotation and an error field $\tilde{\psi}_w$ show, in agreement with analytic results, that the peak reconnected flux occurs for a rotation rate near the TM phase velocity. Nonlinear simulations with small $\tilde{\psi}_w$ show that the real frequency and stabilization by favorable average curvature are masked by a nonlinear effect that occurs for very thin islands: flattening of the pressure across the island, mainly due to sound wave propagation. This flattening causes the disappearance of real frequencies destabilization of the mode, allowing it to grow to large amplitude similar to a $\beta=0$ unstable TM. The flattening of the current for larger islands saturates the mode nonlinearly. In the post-saturation phase, the interaction of the error field with the destabilized spontaneous tearing mode, which rotates with the plasma, leads to oscillations in the Maxwell torque and therefore modulations in the plasma rotation. The islands also rotate with modulated phase velocity, undergoing small-amplitude oscillations due to these modulations. We also present a quasilinear model with an unstable spontaneous TM and error fields, showing that the superposition of these fields results in similar oscillations., Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures

In this paper we show that the kinetic instabilities associated with runaway electron beams play an essential role for the production of high-level non-thermal electron-cyclotron-emission (ECE) radiation. Most of the non-thermal ECE comes from runaway electrons in the low-energy regime with large pitch angle, which are strongly scattered by the excited whistler waves. The power of ECE from runaway electrons is obtained using a synthetic diagnostic model based on the reciprocity method. The electron distribution function is calculated using a kinetic simulation model including the whistler wave instabilities and the quasilinear diffusion effects. Simulations based on DIII-D low-density discharge reproduces the rapid growth of the ECE signals observed in DIII-D experiments. Unlike the thermal ECE where radiation for a certain frequency is strongly localized inside the resonance region, the non-thermal ECE radiation from runaway electrons is nonlocal, and the emission-absorption ratio is higher than that of thermal electrons. The runaway electron tail is more significant for ECE with higher frequencies, and the ECE spectrum becomes flatter as RE population grows. The nonlinear behavior of the kinetic instabilities is illustrated in the osculations of the ECE waves. The good agreement with the DIII-D experimental observations after including the kinetic instabilities clearly illustrate the significance of the scattering effects from wave-particle interactions, which can also be important for runaway electrons produced in disruptions.

The problem of self-consistently coupling kinetic runaway-electron physics to the macroscopic evolution of the plasma is addressed by dividing the electron population into a bulk and a tail. A probabilistic closure is adopted to determine the coupling between the bulk and the tail populations, preserving them both as genuine, non-negative distribution functions. Macroscopic one-fluid equations and the kinetic equation for the runaway-electron population are then derived, now displaying sink and source terms due to transfer of electrons between the bulk and the tail., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure

The effects of kinetic whistler-wave instabilities on the runaway-electron (RE) avalanche is investigated. With parameters from DIII-D experiments, we show that RE scattering from excited whistler waves can explain several poorly understood experimental results seen in a variety of tokamaks. We find an increase of the avalanche growth rate and threshold electric field, bringing the present model much closer to observations than previous results. The excitation of kinetic instabilities and the scattering of resonant electrons are calculated self-consistently using a quasilinear model. We also explain the observed fast growth of electron cyclotron emission (ECE) signals and excitation of very low-frequency whistler modes observed in the quiescent RE experiments at DIII-D [D. A. Spong et al., submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.]. These results indicate that by controlling the background thermal plasma temperature, the plasma wave can be excited spontaneously in tokamak disruptions and the avalanche generation of runaway electrons may be suppressed.

Tearing modes with real frequencies in the plasma frame (i.e. in addition to the Doppler shift due to $E\times B$ rotation) are of potential importance because of their effect on the locking process. In particular, it has recently been shown [J. M. Finn, A. J. Cole, and D. P. Brennan, Phys. Plasmas (Letters), 22:120701, 2015] that the Maxwell torque on the plasma in the presence of an applied error field is modified significantly for tearing modes having real frequencies near marginal stability. In addition, it is known [J. M. Finn and R. A. Gerwin, Phys. Plasmas, 3:2344, 1996] that resistive wall tearing modes can be destabilized below their no-wall limits by rotation, if the tearing modes have real frequencies near marginal stability. In this paper we first derive the tearing mode dispersion relation with pressure gradient, field line curvature and parallel dynamics in the resistive-inertial (RI) regime, neglecting the divergence of the $E\times B$ drift and perpendicular resistivity. The results show that the usual Glasser effect, a toroidal effect which involves real frequencies, occurs in this simplified model, which ignores perpendicular resistivity and the divergence of the $E\times B$ drift. We also find, using a similar simple model, the surprising result that in the viscoresistive regime with pressure gradient, favorable curvature due to toroidal effects, and parallel dynamics, a similar Glasser-like effect is found. We show that in both regimes the existence of tearing modes with complex frequencies is related to nearby electrostatic resistive interchange modes with complex frequencies. We discuss the effect on locking to an error field and the significant lowering of the threshold for destabilization of resistive wall tearing modes, which can be much more pronounced than the weak effect observed for RI tearing modes without pressure-curvature drive in Finn and Gerwin, 1996., Comment: 27 Pages, 8 Figures

The effects that energetic trapped ions have on linear resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities are studied in a reduced model that captures the essential physics driving or damping the modes through variations in the magnetic shear. The drift-kinetic orbital interaction of a slowing down distribution of trapped energetic ions with a resistive MHD instability is integrated to a scalar contribution to the perturbed pressure, and entered into an asymptotic matching formalism for the resistive MHD dispersion relation. Toroidal magnetic field line curvature is included to model trapping in the particle distribution, in an otherwise cylindrical model. The focus is on a configuration that is driven unstable to the m/n = 2/1 mode by increasing pressure, where m is the poloidal mode number and n the toroidal. The particles and pressure can affect the mode both in the core region where there can be low and reversed shear and outside the resonant surface in significant positive shear. The results show that the energetic ions damp and stabilize the mode when orbiting in significant positive shear, increasing the marginal stability boundary. However, the inner core region contribution with low and reversed shear can drive the mode unstable. This effect of shear on the energetic ion pressure contribution is found to be consistent with the literature. These results explain the observation that the 2/1 mode was found to be damped and stabilized by energetic ions in {\delta}f - MHD simulations of tokamak experiments with positive shear throughout, while the 2/1 mode was found to be driven unstable in simulations of experiments with weakly reversed shear in the core. This is also found to be consistent with related experimental observations of the stability of the 2/1 mode changing significantly with core shear., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

The adjoint Fokker-Planck equation method is applied to study the runaway probability function and the expected slowing-down time for highly relativistic runaway electrons, including the loss of energy due to synchrotron radiation. In direct correspondence to Monte Carlo simulation methods, the runaway probability function has a smooth transition across the runaway separatrix, which can be attributed to effect of the pitch angle scattering term in the kinetic equation. However, for the same numerical accuracy, the adjoint method is more efficient than the Monte Carlo method. The expected slowing-down time gives a novel method to estimate the runaway current decay time in experiments. A new result from this work is that the decay rate of high energyelectrons is very slow when E is close to the critical electric field. This effect contributes further to a hysteresis previously found in the runaway electron population.

Resonant field amplification or error field penetration involves driving a weakly stable tearing perturbation in a rotating toroidal plasma. In this paper it is shown that the locking characteristics for modes with finite real frequencies $\omega_{r}$ are quite different from the conventional results. A calculation of the tearing mode amplitude assuming modes with frequencies $\pm\omega_{r}$ in the plasma frame shows that it is maximized when the frequency of the stable backward propagating mode ($-\omega_{r}$) in the lab frame is zero, i.e. when $v=\omega_{r}/k$. Even more importantly, the locking torque is exactly zero at the mode phase velocity, with a pronounced peak at just higher rotation, leading to a locked state with plasma velocity $v$ just above the mode phase velocity in the lab frame. Real frequencies $\pm\omega_{r}$, leading to a $v\rightarrow-v$ symmetry, are known to occur due to the Glasser effect [A.H. Glasser, J.M. Greene, and J.M. Johnson, Phys. Fluids {\bf 19}, 567 (1976).] for modes in the resistive-inertial (RI) regime. This therefore leads to locking of the plasma velocity to just above the phase velocity. It is also shown that similar real frequencies occur over a range of parameters in the visco-resistive (VR) regime with pressure, and the locking torque is similar to that in the RI regime. Real frequencies occur due to diamagnetic effects in other tearing mode regimes and also show this effect, but without the $v\rightarrow-v$ symmetry. Nonlinear effects on the mode amplitude and torque for weakly stable modes or large error fields are discussed. Also, the possibility of applying external fields of different helicities to drive sheared flows in toroidal plasmas is discussed., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures

Understanding the interaction mechanisms between large-scale magnetohydrodynamic instabilities and small-scale drift-wave microturbulence is essential for predicting and optimizing the performance of magnetic confinement based fusion energy experiments. We report progress on understanding these interactions using both analytic theory and numerical simulations performed with the BOUT++ [B. Dudson et al., Comput. Phys. Comm. 180, 1467 (2009)] framework. This work focuses upon the dynamics of the ion temperature gradient instability in the presence of a background static magnetic island, using a weakly electromagnetic two-dimensional five-field fluid model. It is found that the island width must exceed a threshold size (comparable to the turbulent correlation length in the no-island limit) to significantly impact the turbulence dynamics, with the primary impact being an increase in turbulent fluctuation and heat flux amplitudes. The turbulent radial ion energy flux is shown to localize near the X-point, but does so asymmetrically in the poloidal dimension. An effective turbulent resistivity which acts upon the island outer layer is also calculated, and shown to always be significantly (10x - 100x) greater than the collisional resistivity used in the simulations., Comment: 14 pages, 35 figures