Predicting the Dimits shift through reduced mode tertiary instability analysis in a strongly driven gyrokinetic fluid limit

TL;DR

This paper investigates the role of tertiary instability in magnetised plasma turbulence, identifying a stability threshold linked to the Dimits transition using a simplified fluid model derived from gyrokinetics.

Contribution

It introduces a reduced mode estimate for the tertiary instability threshold that aligns well with nonlinear simulation results in a strongly driven gyrokinetic fluid limit.

Findings

A region of absolute stability exists above the linear threshold.

The Dimits transition coincides with a tertiary instability threshold when linear effects are included.

The reduced mode estimate accurately predicts the nonlinear transition.

Abstract

The tertiary instability is believed to be important for governing magnetised plasma turbulence under conditions of strong zonal flow generation, near marginal stability. In this work, we investigate its role for a collisionless strongly driven fluid model, self-consistently derived as a limit of gyrokinetics. It is found that a region of absolute stability above the linear threshold exists, beyond which significant nonlinear transport rapidly develops. While within this range a complex pattern of transient zonal evolution is observed before a stable profile is found, the Dimits transition itself is found to coincide with a tertiary instability threshold so long as linear effects are included. Through a simple and readily extendable procedure tracing its origin to St-Onge 2017 (arXiv:1704.05406) the stabilising effect of the typical zonal profile can be approximated and the accompanying reduced mode estimate is found to be in good agreement with nonlinear simulations.