Abstract: These Lectures on the Kinetic theory and global dispersion relation of Alfvén waves in tokamaks are the continuation of the Spring 2024 Course on Physics of Alfvén waves and energetic particles in fusion plasmas: Mode structures and global dispersion of Alfvén waves in tokamaks. These Lectures will cover with pedagogical style the first part of Reviews of Modern Physics 88, 015008 (2016). General theoretical aspects are treated in Lectures (1 ÷ 6), which are complemented by corresponding Q&A Sessions.
Link to details: https://www.afs.enea.it/zonca/references/seminars/IFTS_spring26/
Time and Location: Lectures (9am-11am) will be held at IFTS on April 20-23-27-29 and May 6-11, with corresponding Q&A Sessions (5pm-6pm).
Classroom:
| Date | April 20 | April 23 | April 27 | April 29 | May 6 | May 11 |
| Classroom | 323 | 323 | 323 | 323 | 323 | 323 |
Main areas that will be explored are: |
(I) Shear Alfvén waves in tokamaks. Mode structure decomposition |
i) Shear Alfvén continuous spectrum and frequency gaps. (Lecture 1) |
(II) Variational methods for Alfvén waves in tokamaks |
ii) Variational formulation and variational principle |
iii) Variational formulation and variational principle |
(III) Kinetic description of Alfvén waves in tokamaks |
iv) The linear gyrokinetic equation and the global dispersion |
v) Kinetic Alfvén waves and low-frequency |
vi) Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes and |
Lecture Notes: Available in electronic form. At the end of each lecture and during the Q&A time, a list of specific reading material is given explicitly. Should you have difficulty in finding literatures and papers, please contact me at fulvio.zonca@enea.it.
Exercises and Research Projects: In the lecture notes, Exercises (E) of various difficulty levels are suggested. These are meant to be important part of the lectures themselves. Possible topics for Research Projects (RP) are also indicated, which require significant more in depth analysis and work.
Q&A Sessions: Devoted to detailed discussions and analysis of technical aspects. They are meant to be complementary to general lectures and are a necessary addendum for full appreciation of the material presented in the course.
