Zonal flow suppression of turbulent transport in the optimized stellarators W7-X and QSTK

TL;DR

This study compares how zonal flows suppress turbulence-driven heat transport in two optimized stellarators, W7-X and QSTK, showing that ZFs effectively reduce ion heat flux, especially in QSTK, with similar mode structures observed.

Contribution

It provides the first comparative analysis of zonal flow effects on turbulence suppression in W7-X and QSTK stellarators using gyrokinetic simulations.

Findings

Zonal flows significantly reduce ion heat transport in both configurations.

QSTK exhibits lower heat flux due to higher linear thresholds for ITG modes.

Both stellarators show similar mode structures in turbulence.

Abstract

We present a comparative study of transport in two optimized stellarator configurations: Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) and a recent design called Quasi-Symmetric Turbulence Konzept (QSTK). Using global Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code (GTC), we explore the role of zonal flows (ZFs) in suppressing electrostatic Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG) driven turbulence in both configurations. The simulations reveal that ZFs significantly reduce ion heat transport in both W7-X and QSTK, with a lower value of heat flux on the latter configuration, as suggested by the apparently higher linear threshold (''critical'') gradients for ITG modes. The study also highlights that both stellarators exhibit similar mode structures. The results support the notion that linear stability measures, in combination with nonlinear stabilization by zonal flows, can play an important role in the suppression of nonlinear heat fluxes.