A quasi-linear analysis of the impurity effect on turbulent momentum transport and residual stress

TL;DR

This paper investigates how impurities affect turbulence-driven intrinsic rotation and residual stress in plasma, revealing that impurity profiles significantly influence these phenomena through a quasi-linear theoretical framework.

Contribution

It introduces a quasi-linear analysis with a two-fluid model for main and impurity ions, highlighting the impact of impurity profiles on residual stress and intrinsic rotation.

Findings

Impurity content and radial profile strongly influence residual stress.

Aligned impurity profiles reduce residual stress significantly.

Reduced residual stress may lead to decreased turbulence-driven intrinsic rotation.

Abstract

We study the impact of impurities on turbulence driven intrinsic rotation (via residual stress) in the context of the quasi-linear theory. A two-fluid formulation for main and impurity ions is employed to study ion temperature gradient modes in sheared slab geometry modified by the presence of impurities. An effective form of the parallel Reynolds stress is derived in the center of mass frame of a coupled main ion-impurity system. Analyses show that the contents and the radial profile of impurities have a strong influence on the residual stress. In particular, an impurity profile aligned with that of main ions is shown to cause a considerable reduction of the residual stress, which may lead to the reduction of turbulence driven intrinsic rotation.