On the high-confinement-mode equilibrium in tokamak plasmas

A new type of toroidal condensation instability is found to dominate transp ort in the high-confinement-mode (H-mode) edge of tokamak plasmas when the temperature gradient is steeper than the density gradient. A particle pinch develops at the edge in agreement with experimental observations and the t ransport can be dominated by the ion or electron channel. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(99)02105-9].