Jump in Transport Coefficients in Discharges with ECR Heating in the T-10 Tokamak

Transient processes after off-axis ECR heating in the T-10 tokamak is switched on or off are analyzed. It is found that the transient processes have the following two characteristic features. First, transport coefficients undergo a jump, thereby driving the evolution of the initial steady-state distributions of the plasma parameters. Second, the evolution of the original configuration is accompanied by ECR heating of the plasma. A mathematical model is proposed that takes into account the jump in transport coefficients over the entire cross section of the plasma column and adequately describes this transient process. An analysis of the experimental data confirms the validity of the model equations formulated here. It is shown that, without invoking the jump in transport coefficients after off-axis ECR heating is switched on or off, it is impossible to describe the experimentally observed opposite-sign changes in the electron temperature at the center of the plasma column and in the ECR heating region.