Non-resonant n = 1 helical deformation induced by m/n = 2/1 tearing mode in JT-60U

In JT-60U, simultaneous excitation of n = 1 helical cores (HCs) and m/n = 2/1 Tearing Modes (TMs) was observed [T. Bando et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 61 115014 (2019)]. In this paper, we report investigations of the excitation mechanism of n = 1 HCs with m/n = 2/1 TMs. In the previous study, it was reported that a "coupling" is observed between n = 1 HCs and m/n = 2/1 TMs: (1) The m/n = 2/1 TM and the n = 1 HC rotate keeping fm/n=1/1(HC) = 2fm/n=2/1(TM). Here, fm/n=1/1(HC) and fm/n=2/1(TM) are the rotation frequency of the m/n = 1/1 HC and the m/n = 2/1 TM in the poloidal direction, respectively. (2) The core is shifted to the high-field side when the O-points of the m/n = 2/1 magnetic island line up in the midplane. (3) The flux surfaces having the m/n = 2/1 magnetic island have m/n = 1/1 helical deformation (HD). The name of "helical deformation" means the deformation which is not localized at the core region. In this study, it is found that the coupling is observed with the mode frequency from several Hz to 6 kHz. This indicates that the resistive wall and the plasma control system do not induce the coupling. In addition, it is found that the coupling is observed even when qmin > 1, indicating that n = 1 HCs are the non-resonant mode. It is also confirmed that n = 1 HCs does not rotate with the plasma in the core region, which indicates that n = 1 HCs are not m/n = 1/1 resonant modes localized at the core region. Accordingly, we propose a model of the excitation mechanism where the m/n = 1/1 HD is induced directly by the current for the m/n = 2/1 TM, which allows to excite the non-resonant m/n = 1/1 mode. The model describes consistently characteristics of the coupling.

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