Analysis of plasma instabilities and verification of the BOUT code for the Large Plasma Device

Abstract

The properties of linear instabilities in the Large Plasma Device [W. Gekelman et al., Rev. Sci. Inst., 62, 2875 (1991)] are studied both through analytic calculations and solving numerically a system of linearized collisional plasma fluid equations using the 3D fluid code BOUT [M. Umansky et al., Contrib. Plasma Phys. 180, 887 (2009)], which has been successfully modified to treat cylindrical geometry. Instability drive from plasma pressure gradients and flows is considered, focusing on resistive drift waves, the Kelvin-Helmholtz and rotational interchange instabilities. A general linear dispersion relation for partially ionized collisional plasmas including these modes is derived and analyzed. For LAPD relevant profiles including strongly driven flows it is found that all three modes can have comparable growth rates and frequencies. Detailed comparison with solutions of the analytic dispersion relation demonstrates that BOUT accurately reproduces all characteristics of linear modes in this system.

Published in Physics of Plasmas, 17, 102107 (2010)

References in corpus (5)

• Turbulence, magnetic fields and plasma physics in clusters of galaxies
• Intermittent turbulence and turbulent structures in a linear magnetized plasma
• The Magnetorotational Instability in a Collisionless Plasma
• Validation in Fusion Research: Towards Guidelines and Best Practices
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• A Linear Technique to Understand Non-Normal Turbulence Applied to a Magnetized Plasma
• Investigating shear flow through continuum gyrokinetic simulations of limiter biasing in the Texas Helimak