Tomographic imaging of resistive mode dynamics in the Madison Symmetric Torus reversed-field pinch

A detailed study of the dynamics and magnetic topological effects of resistive-tearing modes is presented for different operational regimes in the Madison Symmetric Torus reversed-field pinch [R. N. Dexter , Fusion Technol. 19, 131 (1991)]. Soft-x-ray tomography and magnetic measurements, along with numerical reconstruction of magnetic-field lines with the ORBIT code [R. B. White and M. S. Chance, Phys. Fluids 27, 2455 (1984)], have been employed. Magnetic-mode dynamics has been investigated in standard plasmas during the transition to the quasi-single helicity state, in which a single mode dominates the mode spectrum. Single helical soft-x-ray structures are studied with tomography in these cases. These structures are associated with magnetic islands, indicating that helical flux surfaces appear in the plasma. Mode dynamics has also been examined during auxiliary inductive current drive, the goal of which is to reduce the tearing-mode amplitudes. In this case the phenomenology of the soft-x-ray structures appearing in the plasma is more complex. In fact, when a quasi-single helicity spectrum occurs, a single island bigger than in the standard case is usually found. On the other hand, when all modes decrease, two helical soft-x-ray structures are observed, with the same helicity as the two innermost resonant modes. This constitutes the first direct evidence of magnetic-chaos reduction during auxiliary inductive current drive, which is responsible for the achievement of the best confinement in the reversed-field pinch configuration up to now.