Neoclassical transport in the presence of non-axisymmetric magnetic fields causes a toroidal torque known as neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV). The toroidal symmetry of ITER will be broken by the finite number of toroidal field coils and by test blanket modules (TBMs). The addition of ferritic inserts (FIs) will decrease the magnitude of the toroidal field ripple. 3D magnetic equilibria in the presence of toroidal field ripple and ferromagnetic structures are calculated for an ITER steady-state scenario using the Variational Moments Equilibrium Code (VMEC). Neoclassical transport quantities in the presence of these error fields are calculated using the Stellarator Fokker-Planck Iterative Neoclassical Conservative Solver (SFINCS). These calculations fully account for E r , flux surface shaping, multiple species, magnitude of ripple, and collisionality rather than applying approximate analytic NTV formulae. As NTV is a complicated nonlinear function of E r , we study its behavior over a plausible range of E r . We estimate the toroidal flow, and hence E r , using a semi-analytic turbulent intrinsic rotation model and NUBEAM calculations of neutral beam torque. The NTV torque due to TF ripple without ferritic components is found to be comparable in magnitude to the turbulent and NBI torques, though their radial profiles differ. The NTV from the |n|=18 ripple dominates that from lower n perturbations of the TBMs. With the inclusion of FIs, the magnitude of NTV torque is reduced by about 75% near the edge. We present comparisons of several models of tangential magnetic drifts on superbanana-plateau transport at small E r , and we consider the scaling of calculated NTV torque with ripple magnitude.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

In general, the orbit-averaged radial magnetic drift of trapped particles in stellarators is non-zero due to the three-dimensional nature of the magnetic field. Stellarators in which the orbit-averaged radial magnetic drift vanishes are called omnigeneous, and they exhibit neoclassical transport levels comparable to those of axisymmetric tokamaks. However, the effect of deviations from omnigeneity cannot be neglected in practice, and it is more deleterious at small collisionalities. For sufficiently low collision frequencies (below the values that define the $1/nu $ regime), the components of the drifts tangential to the flux surface become relevant. This article focuses on the study of such collisionality regimes in stellarators close to omnigeneity when the gradient of the non-omnigeneous perturbation is small. First, it is proven that closeness to omnigeneity is required to actually preserve radial locality in the drift-kinetic equation for collisionalities below the $1/nu $ regime. Then, using the derived radially local equation, it is shown that neoclassical transport is determined by two layers located at different regions of phase space. One of the layers corresponds to the so-called $sqrt{nu }$ regime and the other to the so-called superbanana-plateau regime. The importance of the superbanana-plateau layer for the calculation of the tangential electric field is emphasized, as well as the relevance of the latter for neoclassical transport in the collisionality regimes considered in this paper. In particular, the role of the tangential electric field is essential for the emergence of a new subregime of superbanana-plateau transport when the radial electric field is small. A formula for the ion energy flux that includes the $sqrt{nu }$ regime and the superbanana-plateau regime is given. The energy flux scales with the square of the size of the deviation from omnigeneity. Finally, it is explained why below a certain collisionality value the formulation presented in this article ceases to be valid.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

The use of high-z wall materials attempts to shift the fusion challenge from heat handling to impurity removal. We demonstrate that not only the impurity density in-out asymmetry but also the poloidal flow has a major impact on the radial impurity flux direction. This realization provides the first method of measuring the flux from available diagnostics, without the need of a computationally demanding kinetic calculation of the full bulk ion response. Moreover, it affords insight into optimal tokamak operation to avoid impurity accumulation while allowing free fueling.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

We develop a gyrokinetic treatment for ions in the magnetic presheath, close to the plasma-wall boundary. We focus on magnetic presheaths with a small magnetic field to wall angle, $\alpha \ll 1$ (in radians). Characteristic lengths perpendicular to the wall in such a magnetic presheath scale with the typical ion Larmor orbit size, ${\rho }_{{\rm{i}}}$. The smallest scale length associated with variations parallel to the wall is taken to be across the magnetic field, and ordered $l={\rho }_{{\rm{i}}}/\delta $, where $\delta \ll 1$ is assumed. The scale lengths along the magnetic field line are assumed so long that variations associated with this direction are neglected. These orderings are consistent with what we expect close to the divertor target of a tokamak. We allow for a strong component of the electric field ${\bf{E}}$ in the direction normal to the electron repelling wall, with strong variation in the same direction. The large change of the electric field over an ion Larmor radius distorts the orbit so that it is not circular. We solve for the lowest order orbits by identifying coordinates, which consist of constants of integration, an adiabatic invariant and a gyrophase, associated with periodic ion motion in the system with $\alpha =\delta =0$. By using these new coordinates as variables in the limit $\alpha \sim \delta \ll 1$, we obtain a generalised ion gyrokinetic equation. We find another quantity that is conserved to first order and use this to simplify the gyrokinetic equation, solving it in the case of a collisionless magnetic presheath. Assuming a Boltzmann response for the electrons, a form of the quasineutrality equation that exploits the change of variables is derived. The gyrokinetic and quasineutrality equations give the ion distribution function and electrostatic potential in the magnetic presheath if the entrance boundary condition is specified.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

Breaking the up-down symmetry of the tokamak poloidal cross-section can significantly increase the spontaneous rotation due to turbulent momentum transport. In this work, we optimize the shape of flux surfaces with both tilted elongation and tilted triangularity in order to maximize this drive of intrinsic rotation. Nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations demonstrate that adding optimally-tilted triangularity can double the momentum transport of a tilted elliptical shape. This work indicates that tilting the elongation and triangularity in an ITER-like device can reduce the energy transport and drive intrinsic rotation with an Alfv\'{e}n Mach number on the order of 1% . This rotation is four times larger than the rotation expected in ITER and is sufficient to stabilize MHD instabilities. It is shown that this optimal shape can be created using the shaping coils of several experiments.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

The two-dimensional Terry-Horton equation is shown to exhibit the Dimits shift when suitably modified to capture both the nonlinear enhancement of zonal/drift-wave interactions and the existence of residual Rosenbluth-Hinton states. This phenomena persists through numerous simplifications of the equation, including a quasilinear approximation as well as a four-mode truncation. Analytic progress on the truncated system is reported, focused on determining the growth rates of zonal flows and calculating the upper bound of the Dimits shift. The results for the truncated system are then used to estimate the Dimits shift of the fully nonlinear system. A new understanding is thus developed on the fundamental nature of the Dimits shift, both on its operation and its eventual termination.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

A combined analytic and computational gyrokinetic approach is developed to address the question of the scaling of pedestal turbulent transport with arbitrary levels of E×B shear. Due to strong gradients and shaping in the pedestal, the instabilities of interest are not curvature-driven like the core instabilities. By extensive numerical (gyrokinetic) simulations, it is demonstrated that pedestal modes respond to shear suppression very much like the predictions of a basic analytic decorrelation theory. The quantitative agreement between the two provides us with a new dependable, first principles (physics based) theoretical framework to predict the efficacy of shear suppression in burning plasmas that lie in a low-shear regime not accessed by present experiments.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

The current understanding of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence envisions turbulent eddies which are anisotropic in all three directions. In the plane perpendicular to the local mean magnetic field, this implies that such eddies become current-sheetlike structures at small scales. We analyze the role of magnetic reconnection in these structures and conclude that reconnection becomes important at a scale ¥ë¡­LS −4/7L, where SL is the outer-scale (L) Lundquist number and ¥ë is the smallest of the field-perpendicular eddy dimensions. This scale is larger than the scale set by the resistive diffusion of eddies, therefore implying a fundamentally different route to energy dissipation than that predicted by the Kolmogorov-like phenomenology. In particular, our analysis predicts the existence of the subinertial, reconnection interval of MHD turbulence, with the estimated scaling of the Fourier energy spectrum E(k¡Ñ)¡ðk−5/2¡Ñ, where k¡Ñ is the wave number perpendicular to the local mean magnetic field. The same calculation is also performed for high (perpendicular) magnetic Prandtl number plasmas (Pm), where the reconnection scale is found to be ¥ë/L¡­S−4/7LPm−2/7.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

We report the results of a direct comparison between different kinetic models of collisionless plasma turbulence in two spatial dimensions. The models considered include a first principles fully-kinetic (FK) description, two widely used reduced models [gyrokinetic (GK) and hybrid-kinetic (HK) with fluid electrons], and a novel reduced gyrokinetic approach (KREHM). Two different ion beta (â i ) regimes are considered: 0.1 and 0.5. For â i =0.5 , good agreement between the GK and FK models is found at scales ranging from the ion to the electron gyroradius, thus providing firm evidence for a kinetic Alfv'en cascade scenario. In the same range, the HK model produces shallower spectral slopes, presumably due to the lack of electron Landau damping. For â i =0.1 , a detailed analysis of spectral ratios reveals a slight disagreement between the GK and FK descriptions at kinetic scales, even though kinetic Alfv'en fluctuations likely still play a significant role. The discrepancy can be traced back to scales above the ion gyroradius, where the FK and HK results seem to suggest the presence of fast magnetosonic and ion Bernstein modes in both plasma beta regimes, but with a more notable deviation from GK in the low-beta case. The identified practical limits and strengths of reduced-kinetic approximations, compared here against the fully-kinetic model on a case-by-case basis, may provide valuable insight into the main kinetic effects at play in turbulent collisionless plasmas, such as the solar wind.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

It is shown that grains streaming through a fluid are generically unstable if their velocity, projected along some direction, matches the phase velocity of a fluid wave. This can occur whenever grains stream faster than a fluid wave. The wave itself can be quite general--sound waves, magnetosonic waves, epicyclic oscillations, and Brunt-V\"ais\"al\"a oscillations each generate instabilities, for example. A simple expression for this "resonant drag instability" (RDI) growth rate is derived. This expression (i) illustrates why such instabilities are so virulent and generic, and (ii) allows for simple analytic computation of RDI growth rates and properties for different fluid systems. As examples, we introduce several new instabilities, which could see application across a variety of astrophysical systems from protoplanetary disks to galactic outflows.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

We present results from particle-in-cell simulations of driven turbulence in magnetized, collisionless, and relativistic pair plasmas. We find that the fluctuations are consistent with the classical k −5/3 ¡Ñ magnetic energy spectrum at fluid scales and a steeper k −4 ¡Ñ spectrum at sub-Larmor scales, where k¡Ñ is the wave vector perpendicular to the mean field. We demonstrate the development of a nonthermal, power-law particle energy distribution f(E)¡­E−¥á, with an index ¥á that decreases with increasing magnetization and increases with an increasing system size (relative to the characteristic Larmor radius). Our simulations indicate that turbulence can be a viable source of energetic particles in high-energy astrophysical systems, such as pulsar wind nebulae, if scalings asymptotically become insensitive to the system size.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

As a fundamental process converting magnetic to plasma energy in high-energy astrophysical plasmas, relativistic magnetic reconnection is a leading explanation for the acceleration of particles to the ultrarelativistic energies necessary to power nonthermal emission (especially X-rays and gamma-rays) in pulsar magnetospheres and pulsar wind nebulae, coronae and jets of accreting black holes, and gamma-ray bursts. An important objective of plasma astrophysics is therefore the characterization of nonthermal particle acceleration (NTPA) effected by reconnection. Reconnection-powered NTPA has been demonstrated over a wide range of physical conditions using large two-dimensional (2D) kinetic simulations. However, its robustness in realistic 3D reconnection -- in particular, whether the 3D relativistic drift-kink instability (RDKI) disrupts NTPA -- has not been systematically investigated, although pioneering 3D simulations have observed NTPA in isolated cases. Here we present the first comprehensive study of NTPA in 3D relativistic reconnection in collisionless electron-positron plasmas, characterizing NTPA as the strength of 3D effects is varied systematically via the length in the third dimension and the strength of the guide magnetic field. We find that, while the RDKI prominently perturbs 3D reconnecting current sheets, it does not suppress particle acceleration, even for zero guide field; fully 3D reconnection robustly and efficiently produces nonthermal power-law particle spectra closely resembling those obtained in 2D. This finding provides strong support for reconnection as the key mechanism powering high-energy flares in various astrophysical systems. We also show that strong guide fields significantly inhibit NTPA, slowing reconnection and limiting the energy available for plasma energization, yielding steeper and shorter power-law spectra.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)

Astrophysical and high-energy-density laboratory plasmas often have large-amplitude, sub-Larmor-scale electromagnetic fluctuations excited by various kinetic-streaming or anisotropy-driven instabilities. The Weibel (or the filamentation) instability is particularly important because it can rapidly generate strong magnetic fields, even in the absence of seed fields. Particles propagating in collisionless plasmas with such small-scale magnetic fields undergo stochastic deflections similar to Coulomb collisions, with the magnetic pitch-angle diffusion coefficient representing the effective "collision" frequency. We show that this effect of the plasma "quasi-collisionality" can strongly affect the growth rate and evolution of the Weibel instability in the deeply nonlinear regime. This result is especially important for understanding cosmic-ray-driven turbulence in an upstream region of a collisionless shock of a gamma-ray burst or a supernova. We demonstrate that the quasi-collisions caused by the fields generated in the upstream suppress the instability slightly but can never shut it down completely. This confirms the assumptions made in the self-similar model of the collisionless foreshock.

• Thematic program: Models in Plasmas, Earth and Space Science (2017/2018)
• Event: 10th Plasma Kinetics Working Group Meeting (2017)