Intermittent convective transport has been investigated in the edge and the scrape-off layer (SOL) of TEXTOR using Langmuir probe signals. The probability distribution function (PDF) of the density fluctuations and the turbulence-induced flux are all positively skewed, while a Gaussian shape is recorded for the negative fluctuations. The deviation of the signals from Gaussian statistics clearly increases from the plasma edge to the SOL. Conditional averaging reveals that in the SOL region the waveform of intermittent structures is asymmetric in time and the burst events move radially outwards with E θ × B T /B 2 velocities of ∼450 m s −1 . It is found that the large burst fluctuations ( 2.5 × rms) account for nearly 40% of the total transport in the SOL. Statistics of the waiting-time between successive bursts indicate that the PDF of the time interval follows a Poisson-distribution for small-duration events (selected by size 2.5×rms) and changes into a power-law form for larger ones. Moreover, the intermittency density fluctuation data clearly show self-similar characters and long-range time correlations through the presence of (1) sandpile-like frequency spectra and existence of the f −1 region; (2) a long tail in the autocorrelation function and (3) Hurst exponents H > 0.5 from R/S analysis, suggesting a possible role of avalanche-like transport in the turbulence intermittency.

Magnetic turbulence is observed at the beginning of the current quench in intended TEXTOR disruptions. Runaway electron (RE) suppression has been experimentally found at magnetic turbulence larger than a certain threshold. Below this threshold, the generated RE current is inversely proportional to the level of magnetic turbulence. The magnetic turbulence originates from the background plasma and the amplitude depends strongly on the toroidal magnetic field and plasma electron density. These results explain the previously found toroidal field threshold for RE generation and have to be considered in predictions for RE generation in ITER.

Systematic measurements on the edge turbulence and turbulent transport have been made by Langmuir probe arrays on TEXTOR under various static Dynamic Ergodic Divertor (DED) configurations. Common features are observed. With the DED, in the ergodic zone the local turbulent flux reverses sign from radially outwards to inwards. The turbulence properties are profoundly modified by energy redistribution in frequency spectra and suppression of large scale eddies. The fluctuation poloidal phase velocity changes direction from electron to ion diamagnetic drift, consistent with the observed reversal of the E r B flow. In the laminar region, the turbulence is found to react to an observed reduced flow shear. [4] have demonstrated that an ergodized magnetic boundary can be effective to optimize the plasma-wall interaction. Meanwhile, the local effects of the magnetic ergodization on edge turbulence and turbulent cross-field transport have also been studied both experimentally [1,5,6] and theoretically [7,8]. It has been observed on TEXT [1] and Tore Supra [2,5,6] that in the ergodic divertor (ED) configuration the edge density fluctuations are decreased whereas the turbulent cross-field diffusivity is less affected. However, a systematic investigation of the turbulence properties, such as frequency and wave-number spectra and the fluctuation propagations, has not been made or was done for a reduced set of wavenumber values [5]. A distinct description in the ergodic and laminar zones was also not given.Recently, on the tokamak TEXTOR the Dynamic Ergodic Divertor (DED) [4] has been installed at the high-field side of the torus (R=a 1:75=0:47 m), contrary to other machines where the ED coils were mounted at the low-field side [1][2][3]. The DED consists of 16 perturbation coils oriented parallel to the field lines on the magnetic flux surface with a safety factor q 3. With different current distributions in the coils, the base poloidal/toroidal modes, m=n, can be adjusted as 12=4, 6=2, and 3=1. The penetration depth into the plasma depends on m: In 12=4 the influence is restricted to the plasma boundary, while in 3=1 it can reach much deeper. In the outer plasma layer, DED induces stochastization of the magnetic field lines, including an ergodic zone with long and a laminar zone with short connection lengths to the wall [9]. In this Letter, we present the first systematic measurements by Langmuir probe arrays on the edge turbulence properties and fluctuation-driven transport in the presence of various static DED configurations (dc current on the coils).To get effective impacts of the DED at the plasma boundary, the discharge conditions have been optimized as follows: For m=n 12=4, I p 250 kA, B T 1:4 T, R=a 1:73=0:46 m, dc DED current I DED 12 kA; for 6=2, I p 270 kA, B T 1:9 T, R=a 1:73=0:46 m, I DED 6 kA; and for 3=1, I p 250 kA, B T 1:9 T, R=a 1:75=0:48 m, I DED 1 kA. The I DED is applied during the stationary phase of the Ohmic discharge. In all cases, no external tearing modes are excited, the lineaveraged plasma densit...

The mechanism governing the impact of the mass isotope on plasma confinement is still one of the main scientific conundrums facing the magnetic fusion community after more than thirty years of intense research. We have investigated the properties of local turbulence and long-range correlations in hydrogen and deuterium plasmas in the TEXTOR tokamak. Experimental findings have shown a systematic increasing in the amplitude of long-range correlations during the transition from hydrogen to deuterium dominated plasmas. These results provide the first direct experimental evidence of the importance of multiscale physics for unraveling the physics of the isotope effect in fusion plasmas. Introduction.-There is clear experimental evidence that at comparable plasma discharge parameters deuterium (D) discharges have improved confinement properties as compared with hydrogen (H) ones [1,2]. The isotope effect has been observed in many different tokamaks under different plasma conditions with a degree of confinement improvement in energy, particle, and momentum depending on plasma regimes. Interestingly, the isotope effect seems to be weaker, and eventually reversed, in stellarators than in tokamaks [1,2]. Understanding the physics of the isotope effect in plasma transport and confinement remains a fundamental open question confronting the fusion community since more than 30 years of intense research with direct impact in the confinement properties of fusion D-T reactors.Considering that the characteristic step size of collisional transport and turbulent structures both increase with the plasma gyroradius s [3], increasing the mass of the isotope would imply a deleterious effect on transport. Then assuming an estimation of the plasma diffusivity (D 0 ) as the ratio of the square of a characteristic radial scale length (L r ) over a characteristic time scale ( c ), D 0 / L 2 r = c , the isotope effect is a counterintuitive phenomenon if the typical radial length scales as L r % s . In addition, while Bohm and gyro-Bohm behaviors are widely used to describe the empirical confinement time, they have, however, the wrong isotopic mass dependence.Contemporary studies of transport phenomena in a wide range of research areas, including atmospheric flows [4], astrophysics [5], and fusion plasmas [6], have identified a common and fundamental feature of the physics of farfrom equilibrium systems-the ''multiscale'' physics, i.e., how large-scale structures can be developed by small-scale

The neutral beam injection (NBI) system was developed on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) for plasma heating and current driving. This paper presents the brief history, design, development, and the main experimental results of the R&D of neutral beam injector on the test bed and on EAST. In particular, it will describe: (1) how the two beamlines with a total beam power of 8 MW were developed; (2) the design of the EAST-NBI system including the high power ion source, main vacuum chamber, inner components, beam diagnostic system and sub-system; (3) the experimental results of beamline-1 on the summer campaign of EAST in 2014 and, (4) the status of beamline-2 and the future plan of EAST-NBIs.

In this letter, we present direct evidence of eddy breaking and tilting events observed at the edge of the TEXTOR tokamak using a 2D gas puff imaging diagnostic. The occurrence of eddy breaking depends on the magnitude of the E r  × B flow shearing rate. The results confirm the theoretical predictions about the influence of E r  × B sheared flows in tilting and splitting turbulence eddies, and consequently, reducing the turbulent transport.

With high‐resolution data of the recently launched Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, we report a magnetic reconnection event at the dayside magnetopause. This reconnection event, having a density asymmetry Nhigh/Nlow ≈ 2 on the two sides of the reconnecting current sheet and a guide field Bg ≈ 0.4B0 in the “out‐of‐plane” direction, exhibit all the two‐fluid features: Alfvenic plasma jets in the outflow region, bipolar Hall electric fields toward the current sheet center, quadrupolar Hall magnetic fields in the “out‐of‐plane” direction, and the corresponding Hall currents. Obviously, the density asymmetry Nhigh/Nlow ≈ 2 and the guide field Bg ≈ 0.4B0 are not sufficient to dismiss the quadrupolar pattern of Hall reconnection. This is different from previous simulations, where the bipolar pattern of Hall reconnection was suggested.

Gas puff imaging (GPI) [S. J. Zweben, D. P. Stotler et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 1981(2002; R. J. Maqueda, G. A. Wurden et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 2020] is a powerful diagnostic that permits a two-dimensional measurement of turbulence in the edge region of a fusion plasma and is based on the observation of the local emission of a neutral gas, actively puffed into the periphery of the plasma. The developed in-vessel GPI telescope observes the emission from the puffed gas along local (at the puff) magnetic field lines. The GPI telescope is specially designed to operate in severe TEXTOR conditions and can be treated as a prototype for the GPI systems on next generation machines. Also, the gas puff nozzle is designed to have a lower divergence of the gas flow than previous GPI diagnostics. The resulting images show poloidally and radially propagating structures, which are associated with plasma blobs. We demonstrate that the local gas puff does not disturb plasma properties. Our results indicate also that the neutral gas emission intensity is more sensitive to the electron density than the electron temperature. Here, we present implementation details of the GPI system on TEXTOR and discuss some design and diagnostic issues related to the development of GPI systems in general. [http://dx