Measurement of core velocity fluctuations and the dynamo in a reversed-field pinch

Abstract

Plasma flow velocity fluctuations have been directly measured in the high-temperature magnetically confined plasma in the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) Reversed-Field Pinch (RFP) [R. N. Dexter et al., Fusion Technol. 19, 131 (1991)]. These measurements show that the flow velocity fluctuations are correlated with magnetic field fluctuations such that the electromotive force 〈ṽ×B̃〉 approximately balances parallel Ohm’s law, E∥+〈ṽ×B̃〉∥=ηJ∥. This initial measurement is subject to limitations of spatial localization and other uncertainties, but is evidence for sustainment of the RFP magnetic field configuration by the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) dynamo, 〈ṽ×B̃〉. Both the flow velocity and magnetic field fluctuations are the result of global resistive MHD modes of helicity m=1, n=5–10 in the core of MST. Chord-averaged flow velocity fluctuations are measured in the core of MST by recording the Doppler shift of impurity line emission with a specialized high resolution and throughput grating spectrometer. Magnetic field fluctuations are recorded with a large array of small edge pickup coils, which allows spectral decomposition into discrete modes and subsequent correlation with the velocity fluctuation data.