Monte Carlo calculations for transport due to MHD modes

Abstract

The three basic mechanisms that produce either classical or anomalous transport are spatial variation of magnetic field strength, spatial variation of electrostatic potential in magnetic surfaces, and loss of magnetic surfaces. A Monte Carlo code is written to study transport due to these three mechanisms interacting with collisional effects. The equations of motion are obtained from the canonical drift Hamiltonian, but non-canonical co-ordinates are used to simplify the integrations. The code is applied to the reversed-field-pinch ZT-40 and the Tokapole II. For ZT-40 the Bessel-function model is used to represent the magnetic field geometry. The effects of pitch-angle scattering, loop voltage and the break-up of magnetic surfaces resulting from resistive MHD perturbations on the drift particle trajectories are illustrated. The particle diffusion coefficients are obtained for varying amplitudes of resistive MHD perturbations. For Tokapole II the spectrum of both the ideal and resistive MHD perturbations is constructed from the experimental data. The drift trajectories for trapped and passing electrons in the presence of such perturbations are obtained. The particle diffusion coefficients for the neo-classical regime in Tokapole II are obtained for varying collision frequency. By comparing the transport coefficients for various groups of particles with the experimental data, we hope to obtain far more information on the transport mechanisms than can be obtained by the standard confinement time measurements. The various groups of particles that can be studied using the code include runaway electrons, thermal electrons, and both passing and trapped diagnostic beam ions.