Transport suppression by shear flow generation in multihelicity resistive-g turbulence

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Abstract
Turbulent momentum transport given by the Reynolds stress is considered as a candidate for explaining the production and sustainment of the mean shear flow in the high confinement ‘‘(H)’’ mode. The fluctuation mechanism for the shear flow generation and transport reduction in the three-dimensional (3-D) multihelicity system is given. The profiles of the Reynolds stress, shear flow, and thermal flux in the 3-D case are compared with those in the two-dimensional (2-D) case. The Beklemishev–Horton theory for the anomalous transport which multiplies the 2-D transport by the density of distinct mode rational surfaces is found to overestimate the observed flux due to the disappearance of a subset of modes on certain rational surfaces. The mixing-length theory, in which the anomalous transport is independent of the density of mode rational surfaces, underestimates the thermal flux.