SMuK 2021 – scientific programme

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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik

P 5: Poster I

P 5.4: Poster

Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 14:00–16:00, P

Full-6D Kinetic Simulations of Magnetically Confined Plasmas — •Mario Räth, Klaus Hallatschek und Katharina Kormann — Max Planck Institute for Plasmaphysics, Garching bei München, Germany

With the increase in computational capabilities over the past years it is possible to simulate more and more complex and accurate physical models. Gyrokinetic theory was introduced in the 1960s and 1970s to describe a plasma more accurately than with fluid equations, but still eliminate the complexity of the fast gyration about the magnetic field lines. Although current gyrokinetic computer simulations are in fair agreement with experimental results in core physics, the assumptions in the derivation make them unreliable in regimes of higher fluctuation amplitudes and stronger gradients, such as the tokamak edge. To correctly describe all phenomena in such regimes, more involved simulations might be necessary. We have developed a novel optimised and scalable semi-Lagrangian solver to simulate ion-temperature gradient modes with the full 6D kinetic equations. It has been verified extensively in the regime of gyrokinetics, including the growth of linear modes and the turbulent saturation. Furthermore, the excitation of high frequency Bernstein waves has been shown in the non-linear saturation phase. The presence of such waves provide a first insight into physics beyond gyrokinetic theory.