Analytic slowing-down distributions as modified by turbulent transport

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Author: Wilkie, George J
• Format: Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 01.10.2018
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Distribution functions; Energetic particles; First principles; Mathematical models; Parameters; Particle density (concentration); Plasma heating; Toroidal plasmas; Turbulence; Velocity distribution

The effect of electrostatic microturbulence on fast particles rapidly decreases at high energy, but can be significant at moderate energy. Previous studies found that, in addition to changes in the energetic particle density, this results in nontrivial changes to the equilibrium velocity distribution. These effects have implications for plasma heating and the stability of Alfvén eigenmodes, but make multiscale simulations much more difficult without further approximations. Here, several related analytic model distribution functions are derived from first principles with reasonable approximations. A single dimensionless parameter characterizes the relative strength of turbulence relative to collisions, and this parameter appears as an exponent in the model distribution functions. Even the most simple of these models reproduces key features of the numerical phase-space transport solution and provides a useful a priori heuristic for determining how strong the effect of turbulence is on the redistribution of energetic particles in toroidal plasmas.