A novel approach to radially global gyrokinetic simulation using the flux-tube code $\texttt{stella}$

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new global gyrokinetic simulation method in the flux-tube code stella, incorporating radial profile variation and improved boundary conditions, validated through benchmark tests.

Contribution

It develops a novel perturbative approach using Fourier basis functions for global gyrokinetics, including radial variations and physically motivated boundary conditions.

Findings

Effective elimination of numerical artefacts near radial boundaries.

Successful linear and nonlinear benchmarking against standard test cases.

Enhanced modeling of radial profile variations in gyrokinetic simulations.

Abstract

A novel approach to global gyrokinetic simulation is implemented in the flux-tube code $\texttt{stella}$. This is done by using a subsidiary expansion of the gyrokinetic equation in the perpendicular scale length of the turbulence, originally derived by Parra and Barnes [Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion, $\textbf{57}$ 054003, 2015], which allows the use of Fourier basis functions while enabling the effect of radial profile variation to be included in a perturbative way. Radial variation of the magnetic geometry is included by utilizing a global extension of the Grad-Shafranov equation and the Miller equilibrium equations which is obtained through Taylor expansion. Radial boundary conditions that employ multiple flux-tube simulations are also developed, serving as a more physically motivated replacement to the conventional Dirichlet radial boundary conditions that are used in global simulation. It is shown that these new boundary conditions eliminate much of the numerical artefacts generated near the radial boundary when expressing a non-periodic function using a spectral basis. We then benchmark the new approach both linearly and nonlinearly using a number of standard test cases.