Observations of core toroidal rotation reversals in Alcator C-Mod ohmic L-mode plasmas

Direction reversals of intrinsic toroidal rotation have been observed in Alcator C-Mod ohmic L-mode plasmas following modest electron density or toroidal magnetic field ramps. The reversal process occurs in the plasma interior, inside of the q = 3/2 surface. For low density plasmas, the rotation is in the co-current direction, and can reverse to the counter-current direction following an increase in the electron density above a certain threshold. Reversals from the co- to counter-current direction are correlated with a sharp decrease in density fluctuations with k R ⩾ 2 cm −1 and with frequencies above 70 kHz. The density at which the rotation reverses increases linearly with plasma current, and decreases with increasing magnetic field. There is a strong correlation between the reversal density and the density at which the global ohmic L-mode energy confinement changes from the linear to the saturated regime.