Linear benchmarks between the hybrid codes HYMAGYC and HMGC to study energetic particle driven Alfvénic modes

Resonant interaction between energetic particles (EPs), produced by fusion reactions and/or additional heating systems, and shear Alfvén modes can destabilize global Alfvénic modes enhancing the EP transport. In order to investigate the EP transport in present and next generation fusion devices, numerical simulations are recognized as a very important tool. Among the various numerical models, the hybrid MHD gyrokinetic one has shown to be a valid compromise between a sufficiently accurate wave-particle interaction description and affordable computational resource requirements. This paper presents a linear benchmark between the hybrid codes HYMAGYC and HMGC. The HYMAGYC code solves the full, linear MHD equations in general curvilinear geometry for the bulk plasma and describes the EP population by the nonlinear gyrokinetic Vlasov equation. On the other side, HMGC solves the nonlinear, reduced (ϵ3 0), pressureless MHD equations (ϵ0 being the inverse aspect ratio) for the bulk plasma and the drift kinetic Vlasov equation for the EPs. The results of the HYMAGYC and HMGC codes have been compared both in the MHD limit and in a wide range of the EP parameter space for two test cases (one of which being the so-called TAE n = 6 ITPA Energetic Particle Group test case), both characterized by ϵ0 ≪ 1. In the first test case (test case A), good qualitative agreement is found w.r.t. real frequencies, growth rates and spatial structures of the most unstable modes, with some quantitative differences for the growth rates. For the so-called ITPA test case (test case B), at the nominal energetic particle density value, the disagreement between the two codes is, on the contrary, also qualitative, as a different mode is found as the most unstable one. © 2016 EURATOM.