Spatio-temporal evolution of the LH and HL transitions

Miki, Kazuhiro; Diamond, P. H.*; Fedorczak, N.*; Grcan, . D.*; Malkov, M.*; Lee, C.*; Kosuga, Yusuke*; Tynan, G. R.*; Xu, G. S.*; Estrada, T.*; McDonald, D. C.*; Schmitz, L.*; Zhao, K. J.*

Understanding the LH and HL transitions is crucial to successful ITER operation. In this paper we present novel theoretical and modelling study results on the spatio-temporal dynamics of the transition. We place a special emphasis on the role of zonal flows and the micromacro connection between dynamics and the power threshold dependences. The model studied evolves five coupled fields in time and one space dimension, in simplified geometry. The content of this paper is (a) the model fundamentals and the space-time evolution during the LIH transition, (b) the physics origin of the well-known B-drift asymmetry in power threshold, (c) the role of heat avalanches in the intrinsic variability of the LH transition, (d) the dynamics of the HL back transition and the physics of hysteresis.