Electromagnetic radiation at the plasma frequency and/or its second harmonic, the so-called plasma emission, is widely accepted as the fundamental process responsible for solar type II and III radio bursts. There have also been occasional observations of higher-harmonic plasma emissions in the solar-terrestrial environment. This paper presents the first demonstration of multiple harmonic emission by means of twodimensional electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation. This finding indicates that under certain circumstances the traditional mechanism of fundamental-harmonic pair emission might also be accompanied by higher-harmonic components. Consequently, the present findings are highly relevant to in situ observations of third-and/or higher-harmonic plasma emission in astrophysical and solar-terrestrial environments.

The present paper investigates nonlinear saturation of the relativistic Weibel instability by employing theory and a particle-in-cell simulation technique. It is found that the early phase of the instability is in excellent agreement with linear theory. Qualitative agreement with quasilinear prediction is also found. An analysis based on an alternative magnetic trapping saturation theory reveals that a relativistic formula leads to a substantial discrepancy between theory and simulation. However, excellent agreement is recovered in the nonrelativistic regime. The analysis of the Weibel instability beyond the quasilinear saturation stage reveals an inverse cascade process via a nonlinear decay instability involving electrostatic fluctuation.

We perform a computational study of the role of zonal flows in edge pedestal collapse on the basis of a nonlinear three-field reduced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. A dramatic change of dynamics takes place when ideal ballooning modes are completely stabilized. Analyses show that a new instability is developed due to a strong excitation of zonal vorticity, resulting in a series of secondary crashes. The presence of subsidiary bursts after a main crash increases the effective crash time and energy loss. These simulation results resemble the behavior of compound edge localized modes (ELMs). Analyses in this paper indicate that a complete understanding of ELM crash dynamics requires the self-consistent inclusion of nonlinear zonal flows-MHD interaction and transport physics.

We present that a statistical method known as the complexity–entropy analysis is useful to characterize a state of plasma turbulence and flux in the resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) edge localized mode (ELM) control experiment. The stochastic pedestal top temperature fluctuation in the RMP ELM suppression phase is distinguished from the chaotic fluctuation in the natural ELM-free phase. It is discussed that the stochastic temperature fluctuation can be originated from the narrow layer of the field penetration on the pedestal top. The forced magnetic island can emit the resonant drift wave of comparable sizes (relatively low-k) in the RMP ELM suppression phase, and it can result in the generation of stochastic higher wavenumber fluctuations coupled to tangled fields around the island. The analysis of the ion saturation current measurement around the major outer striking point on the divertor shows that it also becomes more stochastic as the stronger plasma response to the RMP field is expected.

The stochastic layer formation by the penetration of the resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) field has been considered as a key mechanism in the RMP control of the edge localized mode (ELM) in tokamak plasmas. Here, we provide experimental observations that the fluctuation and transport in the edge plasmas become more stochastic with the more penetration of the RMP field into the plasma. The results support the importance of the stochastic layer formation in the RMP ELM control experiments.