Gyrokinetic particle simulation of microturbulence for general magnetic geometry and experimental profiles

Developments in gyrokinetic particle simulation enable the gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC) to simulate turbulent transport in tokamaks with realistic equilibrium profiles and plasma geometry, which is a critical step in the code–experiment validation process. These new developments include numerical...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Physics of plasmas 2015-02, Vol.22 (2)
Hauptverfasser: Xiao, Yong, Holod, Ihor, Wang, Zhixuan, Lin, Zhihong, Zhang, Taige
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Developments in gyrokinetic particle simulation enable the gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC) to simulate turbulent transport in tokamaks with realistic equilibrium profiles and plasma geometry, which is a critical step in the code–experiment validation process. These new developments include numerical equilibrium representation using B-splines, a new Poisson solver based on finite difference using field-aligned mesh and magnetic flux coordinates, a new zonal flow solver for general geometry, and improvements on the conventional four-point gyroaverage with nonuniform background marker loading. The gyrokinetic Poisson equation is solved in the perpendicular plane instead of the poloidal plane. Exploiting these new features, GTC is able to simulate a typical DIII-D discharge with experimental magnetic geometry and profiles. The simulated turbulent heat diffusivity and its radial profile show good agreement with other gyrokinetic codes. The newly developed nonuniform loading method provides a modified radial transport profile to that of the conventional uniform loading method.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.4908275