Numerical study of the ripple resonance diffusion of alpha particles in tokamaks

Mimata, Hideyuki*; Tani, Keiji*; Tsutsui, Hiroaki*; Tobita, Kenji; Iio, Shunji*; Shimada, Ryuichi*

The energy dependence of the diffusion coefficients of alpha particles in rippled magnetic fields of tokamaks are numerically investigated with an orbit following Monte Carlo code. The diffusion coefficients are enhanced around the ripple resonance energy while they are reduced and has a minimum near the resonance energy, and hence they have an M-shaped dependence on the energy. The ripple resonance is caused by a radial change of the toroidal precession of banana particles, and creates islands in the phase space related with the toroidal and poloidal angles. Since the particles outside the separatrix mainly contribute to the diffusion, the M-shaped energy dependence is explained by both island structure and initial distribution of particles in the phase space. Such a ripple resonant diffusion is dominant for fusion-produced alpha particles in the slowing down process.