Magnetic Reconnection Sustained by the Thermonuclear Heating of the Electron Population

Endogenous modes associated with a finite electron temperature gradient can be sustained by the electron heating rate due to the charged reaction products in fusion burning plasmas [1]. These modes, that are of the quasi-flute type, are localized around selected rational magnetic surfaces [1], involve the effects of finite and anisotropic electron thermal conductivities and depend directly on the amplitude of the perturbed electron temperature and of the reconnected fields. In this case, the effective longitudinal thermal conductivity on the relevant rational surfaces is shown to be decreased, relative to its collisional value, by the reconnected magnetic field component. If the relevant decrease is significant, rational magnetic surfaces can acquire a favorite role in the process of plasma heating by fusion reaction.

[1] B. Coppi, et al., Nucl. Fusion, 55, 053011 (2015).