Effect of ion temperature anisotropy on ITG mode in reversed-field-pinch plasmas

¹ School of Physics, Nankai University - Tianjin 300071, PRC
² College of Science, Civil Aviation University of China - Tianjin 300300, PRC
³ Southwestern Institute of Physics - Chengdu 610041, PRC

Received: 10 July 2024
Accepted: 12 November 2024

Abstract

The Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG) mode instability in the Reversed-Field-Pinch (RFP) plasmas with anisotropies in ion temperature and its gradient, is studied for the first time using the gyrokinetic integral eigenmode equation. Detailed numerical results indicate that ITG instability is reduced by ion temperature anisotropy, specifically when the temperature is higher in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field or sufficiently high in the direction parallel to the magnetic field, with Landau damping playing a significant role. Moreover, the driving force of the ion temperature gradient in the parallel direction for the ITG mode is stronger than that in the perpendicular direction, particularly when the parallel ion temperature is higher. In addition, the study provides detailed insights into the synergistic effects of ion temperature anisotropy with magnetic shear, poloidal wave number, safety factor, and density gradient on ITG mode. It also elucidates the threshold of the ion temperature gradient necessary for mode excitation.