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Fast Turbulence Phase Transition in a Flux-Driven Global Edge-SOL Simulation of a Tokamak Plasma

Wladimir Zholobenko1,*, Frank Jenko1, Kaiyu Zhang1, Philipp Ulbl1, Konrad Eder1, Andreas Stegmeir1, Clemente Angioni1, and Peter Manz2

  • *Contact author: Wladimir.Zholobenko@ipp.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 075101 – Published 19 February, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/b2s6-b5c1

Abstract

A power ramp from L- to H-mode-like conditions is carried out in a 50 ms long global full-f turbulence simulation of ASDEX Upgrade with the grillix code. After 32 ms of slow profile evolution, a sudden change in transport triggers a pedestal buildup within ∼100  μs. This transition results from an abrupt shift from drift-wave (DW) to kinetic-ballooning-mode (KBM) turbulence. The self-consistently evolved E×B flow shear first increases slowly and then sharply. Geodesic acoustic mode and Alfvénic flow oscillations intensify prior to the transition and subsequently die out. This is followed by slow oscillations of the transport and profiles, reminiscent of a dithering I-phase or edge-localized-mode (ELM) cycles observed experimentally. This study paves the way for a better understanding of confinement regime transitions.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 075101– Published 19 February, 2026
  • Received 23 July 2025
  • Accepted 15 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.

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