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Up-gradient particle flux in a drift wave-zonal flow system
Abstract
We report a net inward, up-gradient turbulent particle flux in a cylindrical plasma when collisional drift waves generate a sufficiently strong sheared azimuthal flow that drives positive (negative) density fluctuations up (down) the background density gradient, resulting in a steepening of the mean density gradient. The results show the existence of a saturation mechanism for drift-turbulence driven sheared flows that can cause up-gradient particle transport and density profile steepening.
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