Geometry dependence of the fluctuation intensity in gyrokinetic turbulence

The findings of an investigation into the properties of the three dimensional (3D) saturated fluctuation intensity of the electric potential in gyrokinetic turbulence simulations is presented. Scans in flux surface elongation and Shafranov shift are used to isolate the tokamak geometric dependencies. The potential intensity required in order to compute exact fluxes by a quasilinear method is determined using linear eigenmodes computed with the gyrokinetic code. A model of this non-linear intensity is constructed using the linear eigenmode properties and the geometry shape functions obtained from the 3D intensity spectrum. The model computes the poloidal wavenumber spectrum of the electron and ion energy fluxes with unprecedented accuracy. New insights are gained into the way zonal flow mixing saturates ion-scale turbulence by controlling the radial wavenumber width of the turbulence spectrum.

Automated summary

The investigation focuses on the properties of 3D saturated fluctuation intensity of electric potential in gyrokinetic turbulence simulations, using linear eigenmodes and geometry shape functions to construct a model for accurate calculation of electron and ion energy flux poloidal wavenumber spectrum. New insights are gained into the way zonal flow mixing saturates ion-scale turbulence by controlling the radial wavenumber width of the turbulence spectrum.