Gyrokinetic predictions of multiscale transport in a DIII-D ITER baseline discharge

Abstract

New multiscale gyrokinetic simulations predict that electron energy transport in a DIII-D ITER baseline discharge with dominant electron heating and low input torque is multiscale in nature, with roughly equal amounts of the electron energy flux Q e coming from long wavelength ion-scale (k y ρ s < 1) and short wavelength electron-scale (k y ρ s > 1) fluctuations when the gyrokinetic results match independent power balance calculations. Corresponding conventional ion-scale simulations are able to match the power balance ion energy flux Q i, but systematically underpredict Q e when doing so. Significant nonlinear cross-scale couplings are observed in the multiscale simulations, but the exact simulation predictions are found to be extremely sensitive to variations of model input parameters within experimental uncertainties. Most notably, depending upon the exact value of the equilibrium E × B shearing rate γ E×B used, either enhancement or suppression of the long-wavelength turbulence and transport levels in the multiscale simulations is observed relative to what is predicted by ion-scale simulations. While the enhancement of the long wavelength fluctuations by inclusion of the short wavelength turbulence was previously observed in similar multiscale simulations of an Alcator C-Mod L-mode discharge, these new results show for the first time a complete suppression of long-wavelength turbulence in a multiscale simulation, for parameters at which conventional ion-scale simulation predicts small but finite levels of low-k turbulence and transport consistent with the power balance Q i. Although computational resource limitations prevent a fully rigorous validation assessment of these new results, they provide significant new evidence that electron energy transport in burning plasmas is likely to have a strong multiscale character, with significant nonlinear cross-scale couplings that must be fully understood to predict the performance of those plasmas with confidence.