Higher order calculations are performed to find the amplitude equation and the phase change at a caustic. These conform to typical WKB results. In axisymmetric systems, the ray equations are integrable, and semiclassical quantization leads to a growth rate spectrum jonbisting of an infinity of discrete eigenvalues, bounded above by an accumulation point. However, each eigenvalue is infinitely degenerate. In the nonaxisymmetric case, the rays are unbounded in a four dimensional phase space, and semiclassical quantization breaks down, leading to broadening of the discrete eigenvalues and accumulation point of the axisymmetric case into continuum bands.Analysis of a model problem indicates that the broadening of the discrete eigenvalues is numerically very small, the dominant effect being broadening of the accumulation point.

Consider a system made up of a hydromagnetic wave and the slowly varying background fluid in which it propagates. It is shown that both the effect of the background on the wave and that of the wave on the background may be derived from Hamilton's principle using the averaged hydromagnetic Lagrangian density. The waves propagate adiabatically, conserving the wave action, and act on the background via a wave pressure term. Total momentum, angular momentum, and energy are conserved. When many waves are superimposed, as in weak turbulence, the wave kinetic equation replaces the adiabatic conservation equation. The accuracy of the averaging approximation is examined, and it is shown that it may be extended to all orders in the inhomogeneity. Also, Eulerian and Lagrangian averaging are discussed.

We describe the construction of stepped-pressure equilibria as extrema of a multi-region, relaxed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy functional that combines elements of ideal MHD and Taylor relaxation, and which we call MRXMHD. The model is compatible with Hamiltonian chaos theory and allows the three-dimensional MHD equilibrium problem to be formulated in a well-posed manner suitable for computation. The energy-functional is discretized using a mixed finite-element, Fourier representation for the magnetic vector potential and the equilibrium geometry; and numerical solutions are constructed using the stepped-pressure equilibrium code, SPEC. Convergence studies with respect to radial and Fourier resolution are presented

Numerical simulations of ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode transport with gyrofluid flux tube codes first lead to the rule that the turbulence is quenched when the critical E×B rotational shear rate γE−crit exceeds the maximum of ballooning mode growth rates γ0 without E×B shear [Waltz, Kerbel, and Milovich, Phys. Plasmas 1, 2229 (1994)]. The present work revisits the flux tube simulations reformulated in terms of Floquet ballooning modes which convect in the ballooning mode angle. This new formulation avoids linearly unstable “box modes” from discretizing in the ballooning angle and illustrates the true nonlinear nature of the stabilization in toroidal geometry. The linear eigenmodes can be linearly stable at small E×B shear rates, yet Floquet mode convective amplification allows turbulence to persist unless the critical shear rate is exceeded. The flux tube simulations and the γE−crit≈γ0 quench rule are valid only at vanishing relative gyroradius. Modifications and limits of validity on the quench rule are suggested from analyzing the finite relative gyroradius “ballooning-Schrödinger equation” [R. L. Dewar, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 39, 437 (1997)], which treats general “profile shear” (x variation in γ0) and “profile curvature” (x2 profile variation).

The Hasegawa-Wakatani equations, coupling plasma density and electrostatic potential through an approximation to the physics of parallel electron motions, are a simple model that describes resistive drift wave turbulence. We present numerical analyses of bifurcation phenomena in the model that provide new insights into the interactions between turbulence and zonal flows in the tokamak plasma edge region. The simulation results show a regime where, after an initial transient, drift wave turbulence is suppressed through zonal flow generation. As a parameter controlling the strength of the turbulence is tuned, this zonal flow dominated state is rapidly destroyed and a turbulence-dominated state re-emerges. The transition is explained in terms of the KelvinHelmholtz stability of zonal flows. This is the first observation of an upshift of turbulence onset in the resistive drift wave system, which is analogous to the well-known Dimits shift in turbulence driven by ion temperature gradients. * Electronic address: ryusuke.numata@anu.edu.au

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The time asymptotic distribution functions corresponding to adiabatic and sudden excitation of an electrostatic wave are calculated. These distributions are compared and used to calculate the nonlinear response of the plasma, and Poisson's equation is used to find a nonlinear dispersion relation.

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