The effects of sheared toroidal plasma rotation on the internal kink mode in the banana regime

Abstract

The stability of the ideal internal kink mode is calculated, taking into account the kinetic response of thermal ions in the external region and the singular layer. By extending the collisionless dispersion relation to include the equilibrium radial electric field it is found that the stability of the internal kink mode depends sensitively on sheared toroidal plasma rotation. The sheared toroidal plasma rotation can increase the critical pressure for internal kink mode displacements typically by a factor of two.