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Benchmarking of the mono-energetic transport coefficients-results from the International Collaboration on Neoclassical Transp...

Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
Nuclear Fusion
Publication Date
Volume
51
Issue
7

Numerical results for the three mono-energetic transport coefficients required for a complete neoclassical description of stellarator plasmas have been benchmarked within an international collaboration. These transport coefficients are flux-surface-averaged moments of solutions to the linearized drift kinetic equation which have been determined using field-line-integration techniques, Monte Carlo simulations, a variational method employing Fourier-Legendre test functions and a finite-difference scheme. The benchmarking has been successfully carried out for past, present and future devices which represent different optimization strategies within the extensive configuration space available to stellarators. A qualitative comparison of the results with theoretical expectations for simple model fields is provided. The behaviour of the results for the mono-energetic radial and parallel transport coefficients can be largely understood from such theoretical considerations but the mono-energetic bootstrap current coefficient exhibits characteristics which have not been predicted.