This paper presents a method for calculating the external inductance and mutual inductance coefficients of tokamak plasma configurations in a consistent way. The method actually solves the external equilibrium problem, linking the poloidal equilibrium fields with the value of the total plasma current and the geometric parameters that describe the plasma cross section. This link imposes constraints upon the values of the inductance for superconducting tori obtained by a previous method described by S. P. Hirshman and G. H. Neilson [Phys. Fluids 29, 790 (1986)]. Only if these constraints are properly taken into account do their results correspond to real tokamak equilibrium configurations. The present method is illustrated by calculating the external equilibrium parameters for a wide range of values of the tokamak aspect ratio. Of particular interest are the results for the external inductance, the elongation, and the vertical equilibrium field in the low aspect-ratio range A<1.5.

Different diagnostic information has been employed in JET to identify the level of interaction between lower hybrid waves and fast ions accelerated up to few MeV by ion cyclotron waves. It is found that up to 2590 of the lower hybrid power can be absorbed by fast ions under specific plasma conditions. Fourier analysis of neutron emission rates and fast ion energy signals during lower hybrid modulation experimenis show that the level of interaction depends on the relative position of the cyclotron resonance and the lower hybrid absorption layers.

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Different bootstrap current formulations are implemented in a self-consistent equilibrium calculation obtained from a direct variational technique in fixed boundary tokamak plasmas. The total plasma current profile is supposed to have contributions of the diamagnetic, Pfirsch–Schlüter, and the neoclassical Ohmic and bootstrap currents. The Ohmic component is calculated in terms of the neoclassical conductivity, compared here among different expressions, and the loop voltage determined consistently in order to give the prescribed value of the total plasma current. A comparison among several bootstrap current models for different viscosity coefficient calculations and distinct forms for the Coulomb collision operator is performed for a variety of plasma parameters of the small aspect ratio tokamak ETE (Experimento Tokamak Esférico) at the Associated Plasma Laboratory of INPE, in Brazil. We have performed this comparison for the ETE tokamak so that the differences among all the models reported here, mainly regarding plasma collisionality, can be better illustrated. The dependence of the bootstrap current ratio upon some plasma parameters in the frame of the self-consistent calculation is also analysed. We emphasize in this paper what we call the Hirshman–Sigmar/Shaing model, valid for all collisionality regimes and aspect ratios, and a fitted formulation proposed by Sauter, which has the same range of validity but is faster to compute than the previous one. The advantages or possible limitations of all these different formulations for the bootstrap current estimate are analysed throughout this work.

A self-consistent equilibrium calculation, valid for arbitrary aspect ratio tokamaks, is obtained through a direct variational technique that reduces the equilibrium solution, in general obtained from the 2D Grad-Shafranov equation, to a 1D problem in the radial flux coordinate ρ. The plasma current profile is supposed to have contributions of the diamagnetic, Pfirsch-Schlüter and the neoclassical ohmic and bootstrap currents. An iterative procedure is introduced into our code until the flux surface averaged toroidal current density J T , converges to within a specified tolerance for a given pressure profile and prescribed boundary conditions. The convergence criterion is applied between the J T profile used to calculate the equilibrium through the variational procedure and the one that results from the equilibrium and given by the sum of all current components. The ohmic contribution is calculated from the neoclassical conductivity and from the self-consistently determined loop voltage in order to give the prescribed value of the total plasma current. The bootstrap current is estimated through the full matrix Hirshman-Sigmar model with the viscosity coefficients as proposed by Shaing, which are valid in all plasma collisionality regimes and arbitrary aspect ratios. The results of the self-consistent calculation are presented for the low aspect ratio tokamak Experimento Tokamak Esférico. A comparison among different models for the bootstrap current estimate is also performed and their possible limitations to the self-consistent calculation is analysed.