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(THP2/01) The L-H Transition and the Stability of the Edge Pedestal

(This paper was rapporteured in lecture TH1/7)

B. N. Rogers, J. F. Drake

Institute for Plasma Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

A. Zeiler

Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, EURATOM Association, 85748 Garching, Germany

Abstract.  Based on three-dimensional simulations of the Braginskii equations, we identify two main parameters which control transport in the edge of tokamaks: the MHD ballooning parameter and a diamagnetic parameter. The space defined by these parameters delineates regions where typical L-mode levels of transport arise, where the transport is catastrophically large (density limit) and where the plasma spontaneously forms a transport barrier (H-mode). Ion diamagnetic effects allow the edge pedestal to steepen well beyond the first ideal MHD stability boundary.

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IAEA 2001