NONLINEAR ELECTROMAGNETIC GYROKINETIC EQUATIONS FOR ROTATING AXISYMMETRICAL PLASMAS

The influence of sheared equilibrium flows on the confinement properties of tokamak plasmas is a topic of much current interest. A proper theoretical foundation for the systematic kinetic analysis of this important problem has been provided here by presenting the derivation of a set of nonlinear electromagnetic gyrokinetic equations applicable to low-frequency microinstabilities in a rotating axisymmetric plasma. The subsonic rotation velocity considered is in the direction of symmetry, with the angular rotation frequency being a function of the equilibrium magnetic flux surface. In accordance with experimental observations, the rotation profile is chosen to scale with the ion temperature. The results obtained represent the shear flow generalization of the earlier analysis by Frieman and Chen [Phys. Fluids 25, 502 (1982)], where such flows were not taken into account. In order to make it readily applicable to gyrokinetic particle simulations, this set of equations is cast in a phase-space-conserving continuity equation form.