Drift-Wave Turbulence

Small-scale waves driven by pressure gradients; the main source of anomalous transport.

Drift waves, driven by the plasma's own gradients, grow into the micro-turbulence that leaks heat faster than collisions — the dominant confinement limiter. Sheared flows and magnetic shear suppress them.

Drift waves, driven by the plasma's own gradients, grow into the micro-turbulence that leaks heat faster than collisions and dominates transport. Sheared flows and magnetic shear suppress them, which is why the physics of turbulence suppression is really the physics of confinement.