UC San Diego

The kinetic energy transfer between shear flows and the ambient turbulence is investigated in the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak during the L-H transition. As the rate of energy transfer from the turbulence into the shear flow becomes comparable to the energy input rate into the turbulence, the transition into the H-mode occurs. As the observed behavior exhibits several predicted features of zonal flows, the results show the key role that zonal flows play in mediating the transition into H-mode. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.