Simulation of FuZE axisymmetric stability using gyrokinetic and extended-MHD models

TL;DR

This study uses gyrokinetic and extended-MHD simulations with realistic FuZE plasma profiles to analyze axisymmetric stability, revealing the significant stabilizing effects of radial shear and profile broadening in Z-pinch plasmas.

Contribution

It introduces a combined gyrokinetic and extended-MHD modeling approach with realistic plasma profiles to investigate Z-pinch stability, highlighting the role of radial shear and profile effects.

Findings

Radial shear in guiding center drift contributes to stabilization.

Flow shear reduces linear growth rates but does not achieve full linear stabilization.

Profile broadening enhances nonlinear stability of FuZE plasmas.

Abstract

Axisymmetric ($m=0$) gyrokinetic and extended-MHD simulations of sheared-flow Z-pinch plasma are performed with the high-order finite volume code COGENT. The present gyrokinetic model solves the long-wavelength limit of the gyrokinetic equation for both ion and electron species coupled to the electrostatic gyro-Poisson equation for the electrostatic potential. The electromagnetic MHD model includes the effects of the gyro-viscous pressure tensor, diamagnetic electron and ion heat fluxes, and generalized Ohm's law. A prominent feature of this work is that the radial profiles for the plasma density and temperature are taken from the FuZE experiment and the magnetic field profile is obtained as a solution of the MHD force balance equation. Such an approach allows to address realistic plasma parameters and provide insights into the current and planned experiments. In particular, it is demonstrated that the radial profiles play an important role in stabilization, as the embedded guiding center ($E{\times} B$) drift has a strong radial shear, which can contribute to the Z-pinch stabilization even in the absence of the fluid flow shear. The results of simulations for the FuZE plasma parameters show a decrease of the linear growth rate with an increase in the flow shear, however full stabilization in the linear regime is not observed even for large (comparable to the Alfv\'en velocity) radial variations of the axial flow. Nonlinear stability properties of the FuZE plasmas are also studied and it is found that profile broadening can have a pronounced stabilizing effect in the nonlinear regime.