Free-boundary toroidal Alfven eigenmodes

A numerical study is presented for the n = 1 free-boundary toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAE) in tokamaks, which shows that there is considerable sensitivity of n = 1 modes to the position of the conducting wall. An additional branch of the TAE is shown to emerge from the upper continuum as the ratio of conducting wall radius to plasma radius increases. Such phenomena arise in plasma equilibria with both circular and shaped cross sections, where the shaped profile studied here is similar to that found in Alcator C-Mod. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3575157]