Linear properties of the reverse shear Alfvén eigenmode (RSAE) in a well-diagnosed DIII-D tokamak experiment (discharge #142111) are studied in gyrokinetic particle simulations. Simulations find that a weakly damped RSAE exists due to toroidal coupling and other geometric effects. The mode is driven unstable by density gradients of fast ions from neutral beam injection. Various damping and driving mechanisms are identified and measured in the simulations. Accurate damping and growth rate calculation requires a non-perturbative, fully self-consistent simulation to calculate the true mode structure. The mode structure has no up-down symmetry mainly due to the radial symmetry breaking by the density gradients of the fast ions, as measured in the experiment by electron cyclotron emission imaging. The RSAE frequency up-sweeping and the mode transition from RSAE to TAE (toroidal Alfvén eigenmode) are in good agreement with the experimental results when the values of the minimum safety factor are scanned in gyrokinetic simulations.

Linear properties of the toroidal Alfv en eigenmode (TAE) excited by energetic particles (EP) in a DIII-D tokamak experiment have been studied in global gyrokinetic particle simulations treating self-consistently kinetic effects of EP, thermal ions, and electrons. Simulation results of the TAE frequency and mode structure agree very well with the experimental measurements. The nonperturbative EP contribution induces a radial localization of the TAE mode structure, a break-down of mode radial symmetry, as well as a frequency dependence on the toroidal mode number. The simulations further demonstrate the dependence of the growth rate and mode structure on EP pressure gradients. The in-out asymmetry of the mode structure and the experimental identification of the poloidal harmonics have also been clarified. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

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The composition of the astrophysical relativistic jets remains uncertain. By kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we show that the baryon component in the jet, or the so-called baryon loading effect (BLE), heavily affects relativistic jets transport dynamics in the interstellar medium. On the one hand, with the BLE, relativistic jets can transport in a much longer distance, because jet electrons draw a significant amount of energy from jet baryons via the Buneman-induced electrostatic waves and the Weibel-mediated collisionless shock; on the other hand, the jet electron phase space distribution may transform from a bottom-wide-single-peak structure to a center-wide-multiple-peak one by increasing the BLE, which largely influences the observed jet morphology. Implications for related astrophysical studies are also discussed.