The Kinetic Ion-Temperature-Gradient-driven instability and its localisation

TL;DR

This paper develops a semi-analytical model for ion temperature gradient-driven instabilities that captures key physical effects and explains the observed multiple maxima in linear spectra, aiding interpretation of gyrokinetic simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a polynomial-gaussian expansion-based semi-analytical formula for ITG mode spectra, incorporating wave-particle and magnetic drift effects with field-line dependence.

Findings

Captures long wavelength Landau damping effects

Reproduces multiple maxima in linear spectra

Provides qualitative insights into mode localization and transition phenomena

Abstract

We construct a description of Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG) driven localised linear modes which retains both wave-particle and magnetic drift resonant effects while capturing the field-line dependence of the electrostatic potential. We exploit the smallness of the magnetic drift and the strong localisation of the mode to resolve the problem with a polynomial-gaussian expansion in the field-following co-ordinate. A simple semi-analytical formula for the spectrum of the mode is shown to capture long wavelength Landau damping, ion-scale Larmor radius stabilization, weakening of Larmor radius effects at short-wavelengths and magnetic-drift resonant stabilisation. These elements lead to linear spectra with multiple maxima as observed in gyrokinetic simulations in stellarators. Connections to the transition to extended eigenfunctions and those localized by less unfavourable curvature regions (hopping solutions) are also made. The model provides a clear qualitative framework with which to interpret numerically simulated ITG modes linear spectra with realistic geometries, despite its limitations for exact quantitative predictions.