The results of numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the saturation mechanism of a single toroidal number Alfvén mode, driven unstable, in a tokamak plasma, by the resonant interaction with energetic ions. The effects of equilibrium geometry non-uniformities and finite mode radial width on the wave-particle nonlinear dynamics are discussed. Saturation occurs as the fast-ion density flattening produced by the radial flux associated to the resonant particles captured in the potential well of the Alfvén wave extends over the whole region where mode-particle power exchange can take place. The occurrence of two different saturation regimes is shown. In the first regime, dubbed resonance detuning, that region is limited by the resonance radial width (that is, the width of the region where the fast-ion resonance frequency matches the mode frequency). In the second regime, called radial decoupling, the power exchange region is limited by the mode radial width. In the former regime, the mode saturation amplitude scales quadratically with the growth rate; in the latter, it scales linearly. The occurrence of one or the other regime can be predicted on the basis of linear dynamics: in particular, the radial profile of the fast-ion resonance frequency and the mode structure. Here, we discuss how such properties can depend on the considered toroidal number and compare simulation results with the predictions obtained from a simplified nonlinear pendulum model.Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence.Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
© EUROfusionunstable. As the EP pressure gradient exceeds a certain threshold, even strongly damped continuum oscillations, besides these normal modes of the background plasma, can be driven unstable; they are called energetic particle modes (EPM) [3]. Alvénic fluctuations of various types, excited by EPs, have been identified in several tokamak experiments [4][5][6][7][8][9].Linear properties of Alfvénic fluctuations driven by EPs can be investigated within the theoretical framework of the generalised fishbone-like dispersion relation [3,10,11]. On this basis, several successful comparison between theoretical predictions and experimental observations, as well as numerical simulation results, have been reported [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].Concerning the nonlinear dynamics of Alfvén modes (and its consequences on the overall performances of tokamak plasmas), it is determined by two main factors: the nonlinear wave-wave coupling and nonlinear waveparticle interactions. With reference to the former factor, various wave-wave interactions leading to the breaking of the Alfvénic state have been analyzed in [21,22]. Although these effects play a crucial role in multi-scale dynamics in burning plasmas, we will focus, in our current work, on the nonlinear wave-particle interactions. This issue has been first addressed withi...