Turbulence and bias-induced flows in simple magnetized toroidal plasmas

Turbulence and bias-induced flows in simple magnetized toroidal plasmas are explored with global three-dimensional fluid simulations, focusing on the parameters of the Helimak experiment. The simulations show that plasma turbulence and transport in the regime of interest are dominated by the ideal interchange instability. The application of a bias voltage alters the structure of the plasma potential, resulting in the equilibrium sheared flows. These bias-induced vertical flows located in the gradient region appear to reduce the radial extent of turbulent structures, and thereby lower the radial plasma transport on the low field side.Center for Integrated Computation and Analysis of Reconnection and Turbulence (CICART) under the auspices of the U.S. Department of EnergyFonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique DE-FG02-04ER54766Institute for Fusion Studie