Unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry

Recent experimental findings on limit-cycle-oscillations indicate that the nonlinear driving of the turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress to zonal flows (ZFs) is not a significant factor in the toroidal geometry, sparking fundamental controversial issues within the fusion community. By using the global...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zihao Wang, Shaojie Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2024-01-01
Series:Nuclear Fusion
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ad948b
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850065610692624384
author Zihao Wang
Shaojie Wang
author_facet Zihao Wang
Shaojie Wang
author_sort Zihao Wang
collection DOAJ
description Recent experimental findings on limit-cycle-oscillations indicate that the nonlinear driving of the turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress to zonal flows (ZFs) is not a significant factor in the toroidal geometry, sparking fundamental controversial issues within the fusion community. By using the global nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations, we propose a unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear driving of ZFs in the ion-temperature-gradient turbulence. ZFs are nonlinearly driven by the turbulent energy flux and the turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress. The turbulent energy flux is not shielded by the toroidal geometry effect in nonlinearly driving ZFs. The turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress is not shielded on the time scale shorter than the ion bounce period; however, on the time scale longer than the ion bounce period, the turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress is indeed shielded by the toroidal geometry effect.
format Article
id doaj-art-8c60cc4e22ec4cb68a8296dfd5dfc53a
institution DOAJ
issn 0029-5515
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher IOP Publishing
record_format Article
series Nuclear Fusion
spelling doaj-art-8c60cc4e22ec4cb68a8296dfd5dfc53a2025-08-20T02:48:57ZengIOP PublishingNuclear Fusion0029-55152024-01-0165101603410.1088/1741-4326/ad948bUnified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometryZihao Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5545-4411Shaojie Wang1Department of Engineering and Applied Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, ChinaDepartment of Engineering and Applied Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, ChinaRecent experimental findings on limit-cycle-oscillations indicate that the nonlinear driving of the turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress to zonal flows (ZFs) is not a significant factor in the toroidal geometry, sparking fundamental controversial issues within the fusion community. By using the global nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations, we propose a unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear driving of ZFs in the ion-temperature-gradient turbulence. ZFs are nonlinearly driven by the turbulent energy flux and the turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress. The turbulent energy flux is not shielded by the toroidal geometry effect in nonlinearly driving ZFs. The turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress is not shielded on the time scale shorter than the ion bounce period; however, on the time scale longer than the ion bounce period, the turbulent poloidal Reynolds stress is indeed shielded by the toroidal geometry effect.https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ad948btokamakzonal flowsgyrokinetic theorynumerical simulationreynolds stresslimit-cycle-oscillations
spellingShingle Zihao Wang
Shaojie Wang
Unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry
Nuclear Fusion
tokamak
zonal flows
gyrokinetic theory
numerical simulation
reynolds stress
limit-cycle-oscillations
title Unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry
title_full Unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry
title_fullStr Unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry
title_full_unstemmed Unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry
title_short Unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry
title_sort unified mesoscale picture of nonlinear generation of zonal flows in toroidal geometry
topic tokamak
zonal flows
gyrokinetic theory
numerical simulation
reynolds stress
limit-cycle-oscillations
url https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ad948b
work_keys_str_mv AT zihaowang unifiedmesoscalepictureofnonlineargenerationofzonalflowsintoroidalgeometry
AT shaojiewang unifiedmesoscalepictureofnonlineargenerationofzonalflowsintoroidalgeometry