Physics and stabilization of resistive wall modes in tokamaks

Abstract

The theory of resistive wall modes (RWMs) is discussed and compared with experimental results. Special attention is given to the possibilities of stabilizing the RWM by plasma rotation and active feedback. A simple cylindrical model is used to illustrate various aspects of active control. Fully toroidal computations are also presented, including predictions for RWM stabilization in ITER. According to ideal MHD, robust control of RWM should be straightforward. Theory for stabilization by rotation is discussed, and a semikinetic model is introduced, which compares favourably with experiment. The semikinetic model produces somewhat lower rotation thresholds than previous models.