Stabilization of resistive wall modes by magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium change induced by plasma toroidal rotation

Shiraishi, Junya; Aiba, Nobuyuki; Miyato, Naoaki; Yagi, Masatoshi

Effects of plasma toroidal rotation are self-consistently taken into account not only in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability analysis but also in the equilibrium calculation. To study the effects of toroidal rotation on resistive wall modes (RWMs), a new code has been developed. The RWMaC modules, which solve the electromagnetic dynamics in vacuum and the resistive wall, have been implemented in the MINERVA code, which solves the Frieman-Rotenberg equation that describes the linear ideal MHD in a rotating plasma. It is shown for the first time that MHD equilibrium change induced by toroidal rotation significantly reduces the growth rates of RWMs. Moreover, it can open the stable window which does not exist under the assumption that the rotation affects only the linear dynamics. The rotation modifies the equilibrium pressure, current density, and mass density profiles, which results in the change of the potential energy including rotational effects.