RF HEATING OF PLASMAS BY ELECTRON LANDAU DAMPING OF LOWER-HYBRID WAVES

The characteristics of electron heating when high-power RF near the lower hybrid frequency is applied to a tokamak plasma are examined. The heating rate is estimated from a quasi-linear diffusion model, and the temporal evolution of the electron temperature is followed by using realistic time-dependent transport models. The results predict the existence of an operating regime within which significant central heating can be observed. The boundaries of this regime are interpreted in terms of properties of the wave absorption process and the energy confinement in tokamaks. © 1979 IOP Publishing Ltd.