In:
Physics of Plasmas, AIP Publishing, Vol. 21, No. 5 ( 2014-05-01)
Abstract:
Global mode stability is studied in high-β National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) plasmas to avoid disruptions. Dedicated experiments in NSTX using low frequency active magnetohydrodynamic spectroscopy of applied rotating n = 1 magnetic fields revealed key dependencies of stability on plasma parameters. Observations from previous NSTX resistive wall mode (RWM) active control experiments and the wider NSTX disruption database indicated that the highest βN plasmas were not the least stable. Significantly, here, stability was measured to increase at βN∕li higher than the point where disruptions were found. This favorable behavior is shown to correlate with kinetic stability rotational resonances, and an experimentally determined range of measured E × B frequency with improved stability is identified. Stable plasmas appear to benefit further from reduced collisionality, in agreement with expectation from kinetic RWM stabilization theory, but low collisionality plasmas are also susceptible to sudden instability when kinetic profiles change.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1070-664X
,
1089-7674
Language:
English
Publisher:
AIP Publishing
Publication Date:
2014
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1472746-8
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