Interaction between the core and the edge for ion cyclotron resonance heating based on artificial absorption plasma model

Abstract

Abstract In numerical simulations of the ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) wave heating scheme, core solvers usually focus on wave propagation and absorption mechanisms within the core plasma region. However, the realistic scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma is usually simplified, making it difficult to have deeper understanding of wave propagation and absorption within the SOL. In this work, we employ a cold plasma assumption and an artificial absorption mechanism based on the approach of reference (Zhang et al 2022 Nucl. Fusion 62 076032), to study wave propagation and absorption in the realistic SOL plasma of the EAST. During the exponential decay of the total coupled power with respect to the toroidal mode numbers, several fluctuations are observed in the case of low collisional frequencies. The fluctuations may be caused by the cavity modes associated with specific toroidal mode numbers. Due to the presence of cut-off densities, the edge power losses and the total coupled power exhibit different behaviors before and after the cut-off layer is “open”. Furthermore, the simulation results obtained from the kinetic model in reference (Zhang et al 2022 Nucl. Fusion 62 076032) is discussed. This suggests that both the core-edge combined model and the artificial mechanism are capable of simulating wave propagation and absorption.