Relativistic poloidal non-uniformity of the radial electric field in tokamak plasmas

TL;DR

This paper introduces a relativistic mechanism explaining poloidal non-uniformity of the radial electric field in tokamak plasmas, linked to electron current velocities, without charge separation, and accounts for observed ion rotation velocity variations.

Contribution

It proposes a novel relativistic mechanism for electric field non-uniformity in tokamaks, explaining experimental observations without charge separation.

Findings

Relativistic effects induce poloidal non-uniformity of electric fields.

The mechanism explains observed ion rotation velocity profiles.

Electric fields can arise without traditional charge separation in plasma.

Abstract

The paper presents a relativistic mechanism that can create a poloidal non-uniformity of a radial electric field on a magnetic surface in a tokamak plasma. This mechanism is associated with a significant current velocity of electrons in plasma for many experimental modes of tokamak operations. It is important that electric fields arise without the traditional separation of charges in plasma. The presented mechanism can explain the previously experimentally measured poloidal non-uniformity of the C+6 carbon ion toroidal rotation velocity in the TORE-SUPRA tokamak plasma