Stabilisation of short-wavelength instabilities by parallel-to-the-field shear in long-wavelength $\mathbf{E}\times \mathbf{B}$ flows

Abstract

Magnetised plasma turbulence can have a multiscale character: instabilities driven by mean temperature gradients drive turbulence at the disparate scales of the ion and the electron gyroradii. Simulations of multiscale turbulence, using equations valid in the limit of infinite scale separation, reveal novel cross-scale interaction mechanisms in these plasmas. In the case that both long-wavelength (ion-gyroradius-scale) and short-wavelength (electron-gyroradius-scale) linear instabilities are driven far from marginal stability, we show that the short-wavelength instabilities are suppressed by interactions with long-wavelength turbulence. The observed suppression is a result of two effects: parallel-to-the-field-line shearing by the long wavelength $\mathbf{E}\times \mathbf{B}$ flows, and the modification of the background density gradient by long-wavelength fluctuations. In contrast, simulations of multiscale turbulence where instabilities at both scales are driven near marginal stability demonstrate that when the long-wavelength turbulence is sufficiently collisional and zonally dominated the effect of cross-scale interaction can be parameterised solely in terms of the local modifications to the mean density and temperature gradients. We discuss physical arguments that qualitatively explain how a change in equilibrium drive leads to the observed transition in the impact of the cross-scale interactions.

arXiv comment20 pages, 28 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Multiscale Gyrokinetics for Rotating Tokamak Plasmas: Fluctuations, Transport and Energy Flows
• Critically balanced ion temperature gradient turbulence in fusion plasmas
• Resolving velocity space dynamics in continuum gyrokinetics
• A Scale-Separated Approach for Studying Coupled Ion and Electron Scale Turbulence

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Three-Dimensional Inhomogeneity of Electron-Temperature-Gradient Turbulence in the Edge of Tokamak Plasmas
• Extended electron tails in electrostatic microinstabilities and the nonadiabatic response of passing electrons
• Suppression of temperature-gradient-driven turbulence by sheared flows in fusion plasmas
• The gyrokinetic field invariant and electromagnetic temperature-gradient instabilities in `good-curvature' plasmas
• A Subgrid Model for Electron-Scale Turbulent Transport in Global Ion-Scale Gyrokinetic Simulations of Tokamak Plasmas