Hollow toroidal rotation profiles in strongly electron heated H-mode plasmas in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

Abstract

This work investigates toroidal momentum transport in type-I ELMy H-mode plasmas in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak, focusing on the formation of hollow rotation profiles under strong electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH). Applying the established momentum transport analysis framework to a neutral beam injection (NBI) modulation experiment, momentum transport coefficients were inferred self-consistently. This was done for phases with dominant NBI heating and with additional strong ECRH, during which the rotation profile severely collapsed without significant changes in the externally applied torque. The experimental rotation profiles were accurately reproduced, confirming the robustness of the inferred diffusive, convective, and residual-stress contributions. While the Prandtl number and inward Coriolis pinch remained comparable between phases, the NBI+ECRH phase exhibited a strong counter-current intrinsic torque. Linear gyrokinetic simulations indicate a transition from ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) turbulence to an ITG-trapped-electron-mode (TEM) mixed regime under strong ECRH, consistent with the observed counter-current intrinsic torque and particle pinch behavior. Additional high-ECRH discharges with modified density demonstrated that hollow rotation profiles emerge from a balance between counter-current intrinsic torque and inward convective momentum transport, strongly influenced by the pedestal-top rotation level, which is dominantly set by variations in the pedestal-top density. These findings highlight the importance of intrinsic torque and inward convection for maintaining favorable rotation profiles in future low-torque tokamak scenarios and motivate further exploration of edge torque generation mechanisms.

Figures (14)

• Figure 1: Most important time traces of #29216. The studied discharge phases are indicated by vertical lines: the dominant NBI heating phase ($2.0-4.5$ s) by dotted lines and the phase with strong ECRH (5.5--7.0 s) by dashed lines. All time traces of quantities that can be radially resolved are sampled at mid-radius.
• Figure 2: Kinetic profiles for #29216 for the discharge phase with dominant NBI heating (2.0--4.5s, blue solid) and for the phase with NBI+ECRH (5.5--7.0s, orange dotted). The error bars represent the statistical uncertainty in data reconstruction, while the band structures indicate the standard deviation across the analyzed time windows for each radial point.
• Figure 3: Ion heat diffusivity (a) from ASTRA calculations. Ion heat fluxes (b), electron heat fluxes (c), and applied torque (d) from TRANSP calculations, shown for #29216 for the discharge phase with dominant NBI heating ($2.0-4.5$ s, blue solid) and for the phase with NBI+ECRH ($5.5-7.0$ s, orange dotted). The band structures indicate the standard deviation across the analyzed time windows for each radial point, mainly from the NBI modulation.
• Figure 4: Comparison of dimensionless parameters in the plasma core of #29216 for the discharge phase with dominant NBI heating ($2.0-4.5$ s, blue solid) and for the phase with NBI+ECRH ($5.5-7.0$ s, orange dotted). The additional ECRH modifies multiple dimensionless parameters, which are assumed to modify turbulence and the resulting transport, in particular the logarithmic electron density and temperature gradients and the electron to ion temperature ratio.
• Figure 5: Modeling of the discharge phase with dominant NBI heating (#29216, $2.0-4.5$ s).