Three-Dimensional Numerical Analysis of Pressure Driven Mode in RMP-Imposed LHD Plasma

Property of pressure driven modes in Large Helical Device (LHD) plasmas with a resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) is numerically studied. Particularly, we analyze three-dimensional (3D) RMP effects on the linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability of the modes. For this purpose, 3D numerical codes are utilized for both calculations of an equilibrium including an RMP generating an m = 1/n = 1 magnetic island and the stability of the perturbations resonant at the ι = 1 surface. Here, m and n are the poloidal and the toroidal mode numbers, respectively, and ι denotes rotational transform. Owing to the RMP, the pressure driven mode is localized around the X-point of the island. The type of the mode structure changes from the interchange type to the ballooning type. This property is attributed to the fact that the equilibrium pressure gradient is larger at the X-point than at the O-point.