ALFVEN-WAVE CURRENT DRIVE

The resonant and nonresonant current drive produced by the Alfven and fast waves are discussed both for collision and collisionless magnetiz ed plasmas. The magneto-hydrodynamics approach is used to study collis ion plasma regimes, and the purely kinetic model, with the Landau and transit time magnetic pumping (TTMP) damping, is considered in the wea k collision plasma case. The general form of the time-averaged pondero motive force (and current drive as a result) generated by waves in mag netized plasma configurations is presented. It has been shown that sta nding Alfven waves can drive non-inductive and nonresonant current in a magnetized plasma through Landau and TTMP damping. If all oscillatio ns of the solar corona loops are related to standing Alfven waves, whi ch can introduce the density of dissipated wave power that is necessar y to keep the plasma hot, the axial nonresonant current drive has been estimated to be enough for equilibrium and stability of corona loops. Experimental evidence of the Alfven wave current drive in tokamaks an d stellarators is demonstrated.