A generalized Ginzburg-Landau model for nonlinear relaxation oscillation of magnetized plasma boundary with shear flow

Abstract

The boundary of high-temperature plasma confined by a toroidal magnetic field structure often undergoes quasi-periodic relaxation oscillations between high and low energy states. On the KSTAR tokamak, the oscillation cycle consists of a long quasi-steady state characterized by eigenmode-like filamentary modes, an abrupt transition into non-modal filamentary structure [Lee JE, {\it Sci. Rep.} 7, 45075], and its rapid burst (via magnetic reconnection) leading to the boundary collapse. A phenomenological model including the effects of time-varying perpendicular flow shear, turbulent transport, and external heating has been developed to understand the nonlinear oscillation. The model, which has the form of a generalized complex Ginzburg-Landau equation, shows that the flow shear amplitude and the shear layer width determine the nonlinear oscillation. Numerical solutions revealed that there exists a critical flow shear level below which steady states can exist. This result suggests that the abrupt transition to the non-modal unstable state is due to the flow shear increasing above the critical level. The model predicts that high wavenumber (k) modes can coexist with low-k modes at sufficiently low level of flow shear [Lee J, {\it Phys. Rev. Lett.} 117, 075001].