Alpha particle physics experiments were done on the TokamakFusion Test Reactor (TFTR) during its deuterium-tritium (DT) run from 1993-1997. These experiments utilized several new alpha particle diagnostics and hundreds of DT discharges to characterize the alpha particle confinement and wave-particle interactions. In general, the results from the alpha particle diagnostics agreed with the classical singleparticle confinement model in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) quiescent discharges. Also, the observed alpha particle interactions with sawteeth, toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAE), and ion cyclotron resonant frequency (ICRF) waves were roughly consistent with theoretical modeling. This paper reviews what was learned and identifies what remains to be understood. † åe (s) ≈ 0.4 (T e /10 keV) 3/2 / (n e /10 20 m -3 ) [3]This e-folding time on electrons is typically † åe ≈ 0.4 s at the plasma center of high performance TFTR shots in which T e (0) ≈ 10 keV and n e (0) ≈ 10 20 m -3 , corresponding to a few hundred thousand toroidal transits of the machine. The time required for alphas to reach thermal energy, including ion drag, is [1]:where E åo is the alpha birth energy and E crit is the alpha energy below which ion drag dominates the thermalization process (typically E crit ≈ 35 T e for alphas). For an idealized plasma small gyroradius without alpha loss, these collisions produce the well-known slowing-down distribution [1]: * J. Cordey, private communication (1998)
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