NONLINEAR DYNAMICS OF FIELD MAINTENANCE AND QUASI-PERIODIC RELAXATION IN REVERSED-FIELD PINCHES

The detailed dynamics underlying the self-generation of magnetic flux ("dynamo") in reversed-field pinches (RFPs) is investigated with a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic code. A novel energy diagnostic is used to identify the path taken in Fourier space by the poloidal magnetic field energy as it is converted to axial magnetic field energy by the dynamo. At high values of the pinch parameter, THETA, and Lundquist number, S, the dynamo can be alternatingly dominated by quasilinear and nonlinear processes in a quasiperiodic fashion. Quasilinearly, the m = 1 modes can reverse the axial field by themselves. However, m = 0 modes are crucial to produce the nonlinear dynamo that triggers quasiperiodic relaxations. The same causal mechanism is likely to be responsible for the experimentally observed sawteeth.