Discovery of Electric Pulsation in a Toroidal Helical Plasma

Authors:
  • AFA. Fujisawa
    A. Fujisawa
  • HIH. Iguchi
    H. Iguchi
  • HIH. Idei
    H. Idei
  • SKS. Kubo
    S. Kubo
  • KMK. Matsuoka
    K. Matsuoka
  • SOS. Okamura
    S. Okamura
  • KTK. Tanaka
    K. Tanaka
  • TMT. Minami
    T. Minami
  • SOS. Ohdachi
    S. Ohdachi
  • SMS. Morita
    S. Morita
  • HZH. Zushi
    H. Zushi
  • SLS. Lee
    S. Lee
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Abstract
A pulsating behavior of the electrostatic potential has been discovered in a low-density, high-electron-temperature plasma of the CHS heliotron/torsatron. The potential profiles were observed to swing repeatedly between two distinctive states in a constant external magnetic field under a continuous supply of particles and energy. The change of the potential profile, which occurs on a much faster time scale (microseconds) than the diffusive time scale (milliseconds), is accompanied by changes in density and temperature. This discovery clearly demonstrates that even in a low beta regime a toroidal helical plasma can produce a self-sustaining dynamic steady state, like the sawtooth oscillation in tokamaks.

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