A geomagnetic storm is triggered in response to a disturbance in the solar wind. The earth's ring current gets energized during a geomagnetic storm, which leads to a decrease in the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field on the earth's surface. The Disturbance Storm Time (Dst) index, which is a measure of the intensity of the ring current, is calculated by taking the average of this decrease in the horizontal intensity across four low latitude magnetometer stations and removing the quiet time secular variations. The rate of decrease of the Dst index is an indicator of the deenergization of the ring current particles. But there are several issues with the Dst measurement as a proxy of the ring current energy. In particular, the percentage contribution of the tail current effect to the Dst index is still debated. In this work, an effort has been made to separate and quantify the possible contribution of the tail current to the Dst index. The relative contribution for a selected set of storms for which the interplanetary magnetic field turned northward abruptly after the peak in Dst was observed is estimated. The WINDMI model of the nightside magnetosphere is used to investigate the contributions of ring current, magnetotail current, and magnetopause current on the observed two-phase decay of the Dst index. The role of different solar wind magnetosphere coupling functions on the Dst index calculated by the WINDMI model is also investigated. The performance of four other coupling functions in addition to the rectified vBs is evaluated. These coupling functions emphasize different physical mechanisms to explain the energy transfer into the magnetosphere due to solar wind velocity, dynamic pressure, magnetic field, and Mach number. One coupling function is due to Siscoe, another by Borovsky, and two by Newell. The results indicate that for a majority of cases, at most only vx, By, and Bz are needed to sufficiently account for the supply of energy to the ring current and geotail current components that contribute to the Dst index. The capabilities of the WINDMI model to reliably determine the state of the global magnetosphere are improved by employing the the Magnetotail (MT) index as a measurement constraint during large geomagnetic storms. The MT index is used as a proxy for the strength of the magnetotail current in the magnetosphere. The inclusion of the MT index as an optimization constraint in turn increases our confidence that the ring current contribution to the Dst index calculated by the WINDMI model is correct during large geomagnetic storms. To improve the models prediction of AL index, we also modify the ionospheric conductivity and fit to two substorms. The rate of reduction of convection in the magnetotail for some of these storms is numerically simulated by using inner magnetospheric models like the Fok Ring Current (FRC) and the Rice Convection Model along with the global BATSRUS model at the community coordinated modeling center. Model results are compared against magnetometer data by creating movie maps from several low-latitude magnetometer stations. The results indicate the contribution from the tail current to the Dst is important. In addition, the reduction of the cross-tail current during substorm dipolarization is predicted by the measured isotropic boundary locations. Several well known phenomena are identified in the magnetometer movie maps.

(Hamiltonian chaos and its application to anomalous dynamics in turbulent environment) RMP-induced ELM control has been tested on several tokamaks. It is believed that increase of electron transport across the magnetic field plays an important role. Edge plasma turbulence also affects dynamics in the edge region of tokamak. We study the simultaneous effect of plasma turbulence and RMP-induced stochastic magnetic field within the single-particle framework. We find out that the plasma turbulence is an important element of dynamics that should be taken into account in further (especially single-particle) studies.

The tearing mode (TM) is a resistive instability that can arise in magnetically confined plasmas. The TM can be driven unstable by the gradient of the plasma current. When the mode grows it destroys the magnetic field symmetry and reconnects the magnetic field in the form of a so-called magnetic island. The TMs are inherent to a type of device called the reversed-field pinch (RFP), which is a device for toroidal magnetic confinement of fusion plasmas. In the RFP, TMs arise at several resonant surfaces, i.e. where the field lines and the perturbation have the same pitch angle. These surfaces are closely spaced in the RFP and the neighboring TM islands can overlap. Due to the island overlap, the magnetic field lines become tangled resulting in a stochastic magnetic field, i.e. the field lines fill a volume instead of lying on toroidal surfaces. Consequently, a stochastic field results in an anomalously fast transport in the radial direction. Stochastic fields can also arise in other plasmas, for example, the tokamak edge when a resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) is applied by external coils. This stochastization is intentional to mitigate the edge-localized modes. The RMPs are also used for control of other instabilities. Due to the finite number of RMP coils, however, the RMP fields can contain sidebands that decelerate and lock the TMs via electromagnetic torques. The locking causes an increased plasma-wall interaction. And in the tokamak, the TM locking can cause a plasma disruption which is disastrous for future high-energy devices like the ITER. In this thesis, the TM locking was studied in two RFPs (EXTRAP T2R and Madison Symmetric Torus) by applying RMPs. The experiments were compared with modern mode-locking theory. To determine the viscosity in different magnetic configurations where the field is stochastic, we perturbed the momentum via an RMP and an insertable biased electrode. In the TM locking experiments, we found qualitative agreement with the mode-locking theory. In the model, the kinematic viscosity was chosen to match the experimental locking instant. The model then predicts the braking curve, the short timescale dynamics, and the mode unlocking. To unlock a mode, the RMP amplitude had to decrease by a factor ten from the locking amplitude. These results show that mode-locking theory, including the relevant electromagnetic torques and the viscous plasma response, can explain the experimental features. The model required viscosity agreed with another independent estimation of the viscosity. This showed that the RMP technique can be utilized for estimations of the viscosity. In the momentum perturbation experiments, it was found that the viscosity increased 100-fold when the magnetic fluctuation amplitude increased 10-fold. Thus, the experimental viscosity exhibits the same scaling as predicted by transport in a stochastic magnetic field. The magnitude of the viscosity agreed with a model that assumes that transport occurs at the sound speed -- the first detailed test of this model. The result can, for example, lead to a clearer comparison between experiment and visco-resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) modeling of plasmas with a stochastic magnetic field. These comparisons had been complicated due to the large uncertainty in the experimental viscosity. Now, the viscosity can be better constrained, improving the predictive capability of fusion science. / <p>QC 20171122</p>

Dans cette thèse nous étudions l'impact de perturbations magnétiques résonnantes sur la dynamique de la barrière de transport dans un tokamak. Pour cela nous avons réalisé des simulations numériques tridimensionnelles de turbulence dans le plasma de bord du tokamak. Nos simulations numériques ont reproduit les résultats expérimentaux observés dans différents tokamaks. Dans le régime de confinement amélioré (mode H), la barrière de transport n'est pas stable : elle effectue des oscillations de relaxation, qui partagent des caractéristiques communes avec les "modes localisés au bord'' (Edge Localized Modes, ELMs). Ces ELMs ont à la fois des avantages et des inconvénients. D'un côté, ils permettent d'évacuer les impuretés présentes dans le coe ur du plasma. Mais d'un autre côté, la charge thermique induite sur la paroi pendant un ELM peut endommager les matériaux de première paroi. Pour cette raison, ils doivent être contrôlés. Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le contexte du projet ITER actuellement en construction en France. Sur ITER, le contrôle des ELMs sera indispensable en raison de la quantité d'énergie évacuée. Parmi les différentes façons de contrôler les ELMs, les perturbations magnétiques résonnantes (Resonant Magnetic Perturbations, RMPs) semblent prometteuses. Ces perturbations magnétiques résonnantes sont créées par des bobines externes. Nous nous plaçons dans le cas du tokamak TEXTOR et nous considérons deux configurations pour les bobines externes : dans un premier temps, une perturbation magnétique résonnante comprenant plusieurs harmoniques, qui permet d'avoir une zone stochastique au bord du plasma lorsque les chaînes d'îlots magnétiques se superposent. / In this PhD thesis we study the impact of resonant magnetic perturbations on the transport barrier dynamics in a tokamak. In this goal we have performed turbulence tridimensional numerical simulations in the edge plasma of a tokamak, which reproduced the experimental results observed in different tokamaks. In the improved confinement regime (H mode), the transport barrier is not stable : it does relaxation oscillations, which share common features with the ``Edge Localized Modes'' (ELMs). These ELMs both have advantages and drawbacks. On the one hand, they enable to push away the impurities present in the plasma core. But on the other hand, the thermal load induced on the wall during an ELM can damage the first wall materials. For this reason, they must be controlled. This PhD thesis belongs to the frame of the ITER project, which is today in construction in France. On ITER the ELMs control will be compulsory due to the quantity of energy released. Among the different ways of controlling the ELMs, the resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) seem promising. These resonant magnetic perturbations are created by external coils. We consider the TEXTOR tokamak case and we consider two configurations for the external coils : first, a resonant magnetic perturbation with several harmonics, which enables to have a stochastic zone at the plasma edge when the magnetic island chains overlap ; then, a resonant magnetic perturbation with a single harmonic, which therefore creates a single magnetic island chain. In this PhD thesis, we focus on the non-axisymmetric equilibrium created in the plasma by the resonant magnetic perturbation.