Influence of the centrifugal force and parallel dynamics on the toroidal momentum transport due to small scale turbulence in a tokamak

The paper derives the gyro-kinetic equation in the comoving frame of a toroidally rotating plasma, including both the Coriolis drift effect [A. G. Peeters et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 265003 (2007)] as well as the centrifugal force. The relation with the laboratory frame is discussed. A low field side gyro-fluid model is derived from the gyro-kinetic equation and applied to the description of parallel momentum transport. The model includes the effects of the Coriolis and centrifugal force as well as the parallel dynamics. The latter physics effect allows for a consistent description of both the Coriolis drift effect as well as the ExB shear effect [R. R. Dominguez and G. M. Staebler, Phys. Fluids B 5, 3876 (1993)] on the momentum transport. Strong plasma rotation as well as parallel dynamics reduce the Coriolis (inward) pinch of momentum and can lead to a sign reversal generating an outward pinch velocity. Also, the ExB shear effect is, in a similar manner, reduced by the parallel dynamics and stronger rotation. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3097263