arXiv subjects

R. L. Viana

Publications and source records attributed to R. L. Viana.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Effects of the Internal Transport Barrier in the plasma confinement with Resonant Magnetic Perturbations

In the pursuit of steady-state fusion energy, Advanced Tokamak regimes rely on Internal Transport Barriers (ITBs) with reversed magnetic shear. While Resonant Magnetic Perturbations (RMPs) are commonly applied to control Edge Localized Modes (ELMs) by intentionally making the plasma edge chaotic, the RMPs can also affect the reversed-shear cores. To address this compatibility, we propose a new, adjustable analytical model for plasma current that explicitly incorporates the core, ITB, and edge pedestal components. By applying this current formulation to a Hamiltonian map, we compare how easily magnetic chaos reaches the core in ITB-driven reversed-shear (Non-Twist) plasmas. We find that the localized ITB current creates "twin" inner resonances and pushes outer magnetic island chains closer to the edge. These results highlight a critical operational trade-off: while the Non-Twist topology makes ELM control easier at lower coil currents, it severely shrinks the safety margin against a complete, RMP-induced loss of global confinement.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2025

From Hyperbolic to Non-Hyperbolic Open Billiards: An Entropy and Scaling Law Approach

We investigate the escape dynamics in an open circular billiard under the influence of a uniform gravitational field. The system properties are investigated as a function of the particle total energy and the size of two symmetrically placed holes in the boundary. Using a suite of quantitative tools including escape basins, basin entropy ($S_b$), mean escape time ($\barτ$), and survival probability ($P(n)$), we characterize a system that transitions from a fully chaotic, hyperbolic regime at low energies to a non-hyperbolic, mixed phase space at higher energies. Our results demonstrate that this transition is marked by the emergence of Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) islands. We show that both the basin entropy and the mean escape time are sensitive to this transition, with the former peaking and the latter increasing sharply as the sticky KAM islands appear. The survival probability analysis confirms this dynamical picture, shifting from a pure exponential decay in the hyperbolic regime to a power-law-like decay with a saturation plateau in the mixed regime, which directly quantifies the measure of trapped orbits. In the high-energy limit, the system dynamics approaches an integrable case, leading to a corresponding decrease in complexity as measured by both $S_b$ and $\barτ$.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2025

The effect of parameter drift in the transport of magnetized plasma particles

We investigate how time dependent modulations of drift wave amplitudes affect particle transport and chaos in a magnetized plasma. Using the Horton model, we apply a sawtooth ramp to a primary wave's amplitude and periodic rectangular kicks to secondary waves, simulating a driven system. Particle transport is quantified by the Mean Square Displacement (MSD) exponent, $α$, and chaos by the Maximum Lyapunov Exponent (MLE). Our primary finding is a strong negative correlation between the system's average chaoticity and its transport efficiency. We show that rapid sawtooth ramping (short period $τ$) produces highly efficient, superdiffusive transport ($α> 1$). In contrast, slower ramping increases the system's chaos but suppresses transport, driving it towards normal diffusion ($α\to 1$). This counter intuitive result demonstrates that heightened chaos destroys the coherent, streamer like structures necessary for superdiffusive flights. Our findings indicate that the coherence of the turbulent field, rather than its raw chaoticity, is the key determinant of transport efficiency, offering a new perspective on plasma control.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2025

Escape and transport in chaotic motion of charged particles in a magnetized plasma under the influence of two and three modes of drift waves

This study investigates how two- and three-wave configurations govern particle escape and transport in tokamak edge plasmas. Using a Hamiltonian model derived from drift-wave turbulence, we analyze test particle dynamics through Poincaré maps, fractal escape basins, and entropy metrics. Introducing a third wave increases basin entropy, enhancing particle escape rates while reducing basin boundary entropy, indicative of suppressed basin mixing. Escape time analyses reveal resonant scattering disrupts coherent transport pathways, linking fractal absorption patterns to heat load mitigation in divertors. Characteristic transport is also analyzed and regimes transition between anomalous $(α> 1)$ and normal diffusion $(α\approx 1)$, two-wave systems sustain anomalous transport, while the third wave homogenizes fluxes through stochastic scattering. Fractal structures in escape basins and entropy-driven uncertainty quantification suggest strategies to engineer transport properties, balancing chaos and order for optimized confinement.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2025

Basin entropy and the impact of the escape positioning in an open area-preserving map

The main properties of a dynamical system can be analyzed by examining the corresponding basins, either attraction basins in dissipative systems or escape basins in open Hamiltonian systems and area-preserving maps. In the latter case, the selection of the openings is crucial, as the way exits are chosen can directly influence the results. This study explores the impact of different opening choices on the escape basins by employing a model of particles transported along field lines in tokamaks with reversed shear. We quantitatively evaluate these phenomena using the concept of basin entropy across various system configurations. Our findings reveal that the positioning of the exits significantly affects the complexity and behavior of the escape basins, with remarkable abrupt changes in basin entropy linked to the choice of exits.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2024

Larmor radius effect on the control of chaotic transport in tokamaks

We investigate the influence of the finite Larmor radius on the dynamics of guiding-center test particles subjected to an $\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{B}$ drift in a large aspect-ratio tokamak. For that, we adopt the drift-wave test particle transport model presented by W. Horton [Physics of Plasmas \textbf{5}, 3910 (1998)] and introduce a second-order gyro-averaged extension, which accounts for the finite Larmor radius effect that arises from a spatially varying electric field. Using this extended model, we numerically examine the influence of the finite Larmor radius on chaotic transport and the formation of transport barriers. For non-monotonic plasma profiles, we show that the twist condition of the dynamical system, i.e.,\ KAM theorem's non-degeneracy condition for the Hamiltonian, is violated along a special curve, which, under non-equilibrium conditions, exhibits significant resilience to destruction, thereby inhibiting chaotic transport. This curve acts as a robust barrier to transport and is usually called shearless transport barrier. While varying the amplitude of the electrostatic perturbations, we analyze bifurcation diagrams of the shearless barriers and escape rates of orbits to explore the impact of the finite Larmor radius on controlling chaotic transport. Our findings show that increasing the Larmor radius enhances the robustness of transport barriers, as larger electrostatic perturbation amplitudes are required to disrupt them. Additionally, as the Larmor radius increases, even in the absence of transport barriers, we observe a reduction in the escape rates, indicating a decrease in chaotic transport.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2024

Shearless effective barriers to chaotic transport induced by even twin islands in nontwist systems

For several decades now it has been known that systems with shearless invariant tori, nontwist Hamiltonian systems, possess barriers to chaotic transport. These barriers are resilient to breakage under perturbation and therefore regions where they occur are natural places to look for barriers to transport. We describe a novel kind of effective barrier that persists after the shearless torus is broken. Because phenomena are generic, for convenience we study the Standard Nontwist Map (SNM), an area-preserving map that violates the twist condition locally in the phase space. The novel barrier occurs in nontwist systems when twin even period islands are present, which happens for a broad range of parameter values in the SNM. With a phase space composed of regular and irregular orbits, the movement of chaotic trajectories is hampered by the existence of both shearless curves, total barriers, and a network of partial barriers formed by the stable and unstable manifolds of the hyperbolic points. Being a degenerate system, the SNM has twin islands and, consequently, twin hyperbolic points. We show that the structures formed by the manifolds intrinsically depend on period parity of the twin islands. For this even scenario the novel structure, named a torus free barrier, occurs because the manifolds of different hyperbolic points form an intricate chain atop a dipole configuration and the transport of chaotic trajectories through the chain becomes a rare event. This structure impacts the emergence of transport, the escape basin for chaotic trajectories, the transport mechanism and the chaotic saddle. The case of odd periodic orbits is different: we find for this case the emergence of transport immediately after the breakup of the last invariant curve, and this leads to a scenario of higher transport, with intricate escape basin boundary and a chaotic saddle with non-uniformly distributed points.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2024

Isochronous island bifurcations driven by resonant magnetic perturbations in Tokamaks

Recent evidences show that heteroclinic bifurcations in magnetic islands may be caused by the amplitude variation of resonant magnetic perturbations in tokamaks. To investigate the onset of these bifurcations, we consider a large aspect ratio tokamak with an ergodic limiter composed of two pairs of rings that create external primary perturbations with two sets of wave numbers. An individual pair produces hyperbolic and elliptic periodic points, and its associated islands, that are consistent with the Poincaré-Birkhoff fixed point theorem. However, for two pairs producing external perturbations resonant on the same rational surface, we show that different configurations of isochronous island chains may appear on phase space according to the amplitude of the electric currents in each pair of the ergodic limiter. When one of the electric currents increases, isochronous bifurcations take place and new islands are created with the same winding number as the preceding islands. We present examples of bifurcation sequences displaying (a) direct transitions from the island chain configuration generated by one of the pairs to the configuration produced by the other pair, and (b) transitions with intermediate configurations produced by the limiter pairs coupling. Furthermore, we identify shearless bifurcations inside some isochronous islands, originating nonmonotonic local winding number profiles with associated shearless invariant curves.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

Shaping the edge radial electric field to create shearless transport barriers in tokamaks

In tokamak-confined plasmas, particle transport can be reduced by modifying the radial electric field. In this paper, we investigate the influence of both a well-like and a hill-like shaped radial electric field profile on the creation of shearless transport barriers (STBs) at the plasma edge, which are a type of barrier that can prevent chaotic transport and are related to the presence of extreme values in the rotation number profile. For that, we apply an ExB drift model to describe test particle orbits in large aspect-ratio tokamaks. We show how these barriers depend on the electrostatic fluctuation amplitudes and on the width and depth (height) of the radial electric field well-like (hill-like) profile. We find that, as the depth (height) increases, the STB at the plasma edge becomes more resistant to fluctuations, enabling access to an improved confinement regime that prevents chaotic transport. We also present parameter spaces with the radial electric field parameters, indicating the STB existence for several electric field configurations at the plasma edge, for which we obtain a fractal structure at the barrier/non-barrier frontier, typical of quasi-integrable Hamiltonian systems.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

ExB drift particle transport in tokamaks

In tokamaks, modification of the plasma profiles can reduce plasma transport, improving particle confinement. However, this improvement is still not completely understood. In this work, we consider a drift wave test particle model to investigate the influence of the electric and magnetic field profiles on plasma transport. Test particle orbits subjected to ExB drift are numerically integrated and their transport coefficient is obtained. We conclude that sheared profiles reduce particle transport, even for high amplitude perturbations. In particular, nonmonotonic electric and magnetic fields produce shearless transport barriers, which are particularly resistant to perturbations and reduce even more the transport coefficient.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Shearless bifurcations in particle transport for reversed shear tokamaks

Some internal transport barriers in tokamaks have been related to the vicinity of extrema of the plasma equilibrium profiles. This effect is numerically investigated by considering the guiding-center trajectories of plasma particles undergoing ExB drift motion, considering that the electric field has a stationary nonmonotonic radial profile and an electrostatic fluctuation. In addition, the equilibrium configuration has a nonmonotonic safety factor profile. The numerical integration of the equations of motion yields a symplectic map with shearless barriers. By changing the parameters of the safety factor profile, the appearance, and breakup of these shearless curves are observed. The successive shearless curves breakup and recovering is explained using concepts from bifurcation theory. We also present bifurcation sequences associated to the creation of multiple shearless curves. Physical consequences of scenarios with multiple shearless curves are discussed.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Biquadratic Nontwist Map: a model for shearless bifurcations

Area-preserving nontwist maps are used to describe a broad range of physical systems. In those systems, the violation of the twist condition leads to nontwist characteristic phenomena, such as reconnection-collision sequences and shearless invariant curves that act as transport barriers in the phase space. Although reported in numerical investigations, the shearless bifurcation, i.e., the emergence scenario of multiple shearless curves, is not well understood. In this work, we derive an area-preserving map as a local approximation of a particle transport model for confined plasmas. Multiple shearless curves are found in this area-preserving map, with the same shearless bifurcation scenario numerically observed in the original model. Due to its symmetry properties and simple functional form, this map is proposed as a model to study shearless bifurcations.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2022

Internal energy exchanges and chaotic dynamics in an intrinsically coupled system

Intrinsically coupled nonlinear systems present different oscillating components that exchange energy among themselves. A paradigmatic example is the spring pendulum, which displays spring, pendulum, and coupled oscillations. We analyze the energy exchanges among the oscillations, and obtain that it is enhanced for chaotic orbits. Moreover, the highest rates of energy exchange for the coupling occur along the homoclinic tangle of the primary hyperbolic point embedded in a chaotic sea. The results show a clear relation between internal energy exchanges and the dynamics of a coupled system.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2021

Onset of internal transport barriers in tokamaks

Barriers have been identified in magnetically confined plasmas reducing the particle transport and improving the confinement. One of them, the primary shearless barriers are associated to extrema of non-monotonic plasma profiles. Previously, we identified these barriers in a model described by a map that allows the integration of charged particles motion in drift waves for a long time scale. In this work, we show how the existence of these robust barriers depends on the fluctuation amplitude and on the electric shear. Moreover, we also find control parameter intervals for which these primary barriers onset and break-up are recurrent. Another noticeable feature, in these transitions, is the appearance of a layer of particle trajectory stickiness after the shearless barrier break-up or before its onset. Besides the mentioned primary barriers, we also observe sequences of secondary shearless barriers, not reported before, created and destroyed by a sequence of bifurcations as the main control parameters, the fluctuation amplitude and electric shear, are varied. Furthermore, in these bifurcations, we also find hitherto unknown double and triple secondary shearless barriers which constitute a noticeable obstacle to the chaotic transport.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Low-dimensional chaos in the single wave model for self-consistent wave-particle Hamiltonian

We analyze nonlinear aspects of the self-consistent wave-particle interaction using Hamiltonian dynamics in the single wave model, where the wave is modified due to the particle dynamics. This interaction plays an important role in the emergence of plasma instabilities and turbulence. The simplest case, where one particle (N = 1) is coupled with one wave (M = 1), is completely integrable, and the nonlinear effects reduce to the wave potential pulsating while the particle either remains trapped or circulates forever. On increasing the number of particles (N = 2, M = 1), integrability is lost and chaos develops. Our analyses identify the two standard ways for chaos to appear and grow (the homoclinic tangle born from a separatrix, and the resonance overlap near an elliptic fixed point). Moreover, a strong form of chaos occurs when the energy is high enough for the wave amplitude to vanish occasionally.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2021

Transport barriers in symplectic maps

Chaotic transport is a subject of paramount importance in a variety of problems in plasma physics, specially those related to anomalous transport and turbulence. On the other hand, a great deal of information on chaotic transport can be obtained from simple dynamical systems like two-dimensional area-preserving (symplectic) maps, where powerful mathematical results like KAM theory are available. In this work we review recent works on transport barriers in area-preserving maps, focusing on systems which do not obey the so-called twist property. For such systems KAM theory no longer holds everywhere and novel dynamical features show up as non-resistive reconnection, shearless curves and shearless bifurcations. After presenting some general features using a standard nontwist mapping, we consider magnetic field line maps for magnetically confined plasmas in tokamaks.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Quantifying coherence of chimera states in coupled chaotic systems

Chimera states in coupled oscillator systems present both spatially coherent and incoherent domains. The number and size of these domains depend on many factors like the system parameters and initial conditions. Systematic investigations of these dependences require a quantification of the degree of coherence present in a given snapshot spatial pattern. We propose the use of a local order parameter magnitude combined with the counting of the corresponding plateaus so as to provide such quantification. We use this technique in non-locally coupled lattices of chaotic logistic maps and chaotic Rössler systems to investigate the dependence of the degree of coherence on the coupling strength.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2018

Energy Distribution in Intrinsically Coupled Systems: The Spring Pendulum Paradigm

Intrinsically nonlinear coupled systems present different oscillating components that exchange energy among themselves. We present a new approach to deal with such energy exchanges and to investigate how it depends on the system control parameters. The method consists in writing the total energy of the system, and properly identifying the energy terms for each component and, especially, their coupling. To illustrate the proposed approach, we work with the bi-dimensional spring pendulum, which is a paradigm to study nonlinear coupled systems, and is used as a model for several systems. For the spring pendulum, we identify three energy components, resembling the spring and pendulum like motions, and the coupling between them. With these analytical expressions, we analyze the energy exchange for individual trajectories, and we also obtain global characteristics of the spring pendulum energy distribution by calculating spatial and time average energy components for a great number of trajectories (periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic) throughout the phase space. Considering an energy term due to the nonlinear coupling, we identify regions in the parameter space that correspond to strong and weak coupling. The presented procedure can be applied to nonlinear coupled systems to reveal how the coupling mediates internal energy exchanges, and how the energy distribution varies according to the system parameters.

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