Behavior of magnetic field fluctuations during dynamo activity and its effect on energy confinement in a reversed-field pinch

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Abstract
Fluctuations of magnetic fields and related magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) phenomena are investigated in the TPE‐1RM15 reversed‐field pinch experiment [Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Research, 1986 (IAEA, Vienna, 1987), Vol. 2, p. 453]. Mode analysis of fluctuations measured by multichannel coils reveals that nonlinear interactions between m=1 and m=0 modes, such as nonlinear coupling and phase locking, play significant roles during a dynamo event (i.e., the flux genertion process in the sustainment phase), resulting in transition from an unstable state to a stable state. Behaviors of these fluctuations are found to be toroidally asymmetrical due to strong nonlinearity. Study of the current ramping experiment shows that the inverse of global energy confinement time depends on the squared fluctuation level offset linearly, which is consistent with the prediction of the transport model based on the diffusion of stochastic field lines. By examining the dependence of the resistive part of the loop voltage on the fluctuation level, the input power to the electrons and ions are estimated to be about 70% and 30% of the total input power, respectively.