MODELING THE EXCITATION OF GLOBAL ALFVEN MODES BY AN EXTERNAL ANTENNA IN THE JOINT EUROPEAN TORUS (JET)

The active excitation of global Alfvén modes using the saddle coils in the Joint European Torus (JET) [Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research 1984, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference, London (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1985), Vol. 1, p. 11] as the external antenna, will provide information on the damping of global modes without the need to drive the modes unstable. For the modeling of the Alfvén mode excitation, the toroidal resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code CASTOR (Complex Alfvén Spectrum in TORoidal geometry) [18th EPS Conference On Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, Berlin, 1991, edited by P. Bachmann and D. C. Robinson (The European Physical Society, Petit-Lancy, 1991), Vol. 15, Part IV, p. 89] has been extended to calculate the response to an external antenna. The excitation of a high-performance, high beta JET discharge is studied numerically. In particular, the influence of a finite pressure is investigated. Weakly damped low-n global modes do exist in the gaps in the continuous spectrum at high beta. A pressure-driven global mode is found due to the interaction of Alfvén and slow modes. Its frequency scales solely with the plasma temperature, not like a pure Alfvén mode with a density and magnetic field.