Velocity diffusion in two-frequency electron cyclotron resonance heating

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Abstract
Two‐frequency electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) is modeled by a four‐dimensional mapping derived from the nonrelativistic single particle equations of motion. The model includes changes in parallel energy due to the spatially separate resonance zones. The intrinsic diffusion in parallel energy leads to axial losses in a magnetic trap which can rival those induced by collisions. An analytical model for this process gives a loss rate in good agreement with a numerical simulation. The quasilinear diffusion rate into the loss cone and the rate of Arnold diffusion through the adiabatic barrier are calculated for practical ECRH experiments, and compared with similar effects arising from interparticle collisions.