Kinetic excitation of Alfv\'{e}nic instabilities near the second ballooning stability boundary in a high-$\beta$ toroidal plasma

The kinetic excitation and/or damping of plasma waves in a high-$\beta$ tokamak plasma is studied using linear gyrokinetic simulations. A new code was developed to accurately simulate excitations in a broad range of frequencies and wavelengths. It describes the evolution of the electromagnetic fields $\delta{\bf B}_\perp$, $\delta B_\parallel$ and $\delta E_\parallel$ subject to effects of kinetic compression of thermal and energetic ions, finite Larmor radii and finite drift orbit widths. The $s$-$\alpha$ equilibrium model and ballooning representation are employed. For example, the code is capable of investigating kinetic ballooning modes, Alfv\'{e}nic ion temperature gradient modes, $\beta$- and toroidicity-induced Alfv\'{e}n eigenmodes, and energetic particle modes. Our current focus is on the parameter regime near the second ballooning stability boundary, where the properties of Alfv\'{e}nic instabilities including kinetic thermal ion compression will be examined. Corresponding results will be reported as they become available.