Role of neutrals in the phase transition model

The phase transition model for the transition from the low-confinement regime (L mode) to high-confinement regime (H mode) is extended to incorporate the effect of the neutral particles on the transition threshold. For usual edge plasma parameters, the increase of effective poloidal viscosity through charge exchange damping and reduction of the effective fluxes by both ionization and charge exchange increases the threshold power required for the transition. For plasmas with the effective energy flux smaller than the convective energy flux, the transition may be triggered by a neutral influx. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.