Runaway electron synchrotron radiation in a vertically translated plasma

• Synchrotron radiation observed from runaway electrons (REs) in tokamaks depends upon the position and size of the RE beam, the RE energy and pitch distributions, as well as the location of the observer. We show experimental synchrotron images of a vertically moving RE beam sweeping past the detector in the Tokamak a Configuration Variable (TCV) tokamak and compare it with predictions from the synthetic synchrotron diagnosticSoft. This experimental validation lends confidence to the theory underlying the synthetic diagnostics which are used for benchmarking theoretical models of and probing runaway dynamics. We present a comparison of synchrotron measurements in TCV with predictions of kinetic theory for runaway dynamics in uniform magnetic fields. We find that to explain the detected synchrotron emission, significant non-collisional pitch angle scattering as well as radial transport of REs would be needed. Such effects could be caused by the presence of magnetic perturbations, which should be further investigated in future TCV experiments.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Acceleratorfysik och instrumentering (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Accelerator Physics and Instrumentation (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Subatomär fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Subatomic Physics (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

tokamak

runaway electrons

synchrotron radiation

SOFT

TCV

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)