New Advances in Predicting Tokamak Plasma Rotation

Recent work at the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade has demonstrated that present theoretical models, combined with experimental scalings, can effectively model the transport of momentum within the plasma core. This marks a significant advancement towards predicting the rotation profiles of both current and future tokamak devices.

Prediction for the plasma rotation (y-axis) against the experimental measurements (x-axis) for various radial positions. Unity shown as dotted black line.

The toroidal plasma rotation in fusion devices influences turbulence, transport, and plasma stability. For many years, the fusion community has been working toward reliable predictions of toroidal plasma rotation. However, a fully predictive capability for the plasma core is not yet available. Research conducted at the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade succeeded in measuring the momentum transport coefficients. These results validated theoretical predictions and allowed a reduced predictive model for core plasma rotation in ASDEX Upgrade to be developed. This is a significant first step towards developing a more general model for plasma rotation in tokamaks. Future work should now focus on expanding this validation effort on the formation of plasma rotation in the plasma edge.

The publication on this work can be found here: C.F.B. Zimmermann et al., Experimental validation of momentum transport theory in the core of H-mode plasmas in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak, Physics of Plasmas 31, 042306 (2024),
doi.org/10.1063/5.0203092  

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