Quasi-Periodic Growth of a Single Helical Instability in a Low-Aspect Ratio RFP

Abstract

Quasi-periodic growth of a single core-resonant instability has been observed in a low-aspect ratio (low-A) reversed field pinch experiment in RELAX. In round-topped current discharges, the innermost core resonant m = 1/n = 4 mode grows with suppression of the neighboring m = 1/n = 5, 6 modes. The resultant toroidal mode spectrum of the m = 1 modes is similar to that of the quasi-single helicity (QSH) state with higher amplitudes. These phenomena are discussed along with the low-A characteristic of RELAX, indicating simpler MHD mode dynamics and easier access to the QSH state.