Internal magnetic fluctuations and electron heat transport in the Tore Supra tokamak: Observation by cross-polarization scattering

Magnetic fluctuations (radial size approximate to 5 mm) are measured by a cross polarization scattering (CPS) diagnostic in Tore Supra. In the scenario O + (B) over tilde --> X, only the poloidal component of the magnetic fluctuations is measured, while both the radial and the poloidal component are measured in the scenario X + (B) over tilde --> O. These fluctuations are investigated quantitatively in the ohmic and low confinement regimes over a wide range of plasma currents, densities and additional heating powers. At the same time, the electron heat diffusivities expected from these fluctuations are compared with those obtained by profile analysis. Three main results are obtained: (a) The radial profile of the poloidal magnetic fluctuations in the gradient region (0.3 < r/a < 0.7) is established from these measurements. The magnetic fluctuation levels are found to increase towards the plasma edge, and this feature is compatible with that of electron heat diffusivity. (b) A strong correlation between the measured magnetic turbulence and the local temperature gradient is observed during the additional heating. (c) The local electron heat diffusivity induced by magnetic fluctuations is estimated using the non-collisional quasi-linear formula chi(e)(mag) = pi qRv(th)(delta B-r/B)(2)(,) where the radial component of the magnetic turbulence is assumed to be of the same order as the poloidal component. Both the order of magnitude and the parametric dependence of chi(e)(mag) show similarities with electron diffusivities determined by transport analysis. In particular, a threshold is observed for the dependence of fluctuation induced heat fluxes on the local temperature gradient, which is close to the critical gradient observed for the measured heat fluxes.