A simple model of intrinsic rotation in high confinement regime tokamak plasmas

A simple unified model of intrinsic rotation and momentum transport in high confinement regime H-mode tokamak plasmas is presented. Motivated by the common dynamics of the onset of intrinsic rotation and the L-H transition, this simple model combines E B shear-driven residual stress in the pedestal with a turbulent equipartition pinch to yield rotation profiles. The residual stress is the primary mechanism for buildup of intrinsic rotation in the H-mode pedestal, while the pinch drives on-axis peaking of rotation profiles. Analytical estimates for pedestal flow velocities are given in terms of the pedestal width, the pedestal height, and various model parameters. The predicted scaling of the toroidal flow speed with pedestal width is found to be consistent with the International Tokamak Physics Activity database global scaling of the flow speed on-axis with the total plasma stored energy. © 2010 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3339909