From Liouville's theorem to quasilinear, nonlinear stochastic, and fractional transport, a multi-scale kinetics of plasma turbulence

From Liouville's equation, a phase-space multi-scale transport equation is systematically derived. The proposed phase-space multi-scale transport equation based on the first principle indicates that the nonlinear stochastic transport is due to the micro-turbulence scattering while the familiar quasilinear transport is due to the long-range correlation of the meso-scale coherent modes; and more interestingly, it demonstrates a systematic derivation of the fractional transport equation that may provide a new view-angle to understand the anomalous transport observed in plasma turbulence. The multi-scale kinetics suggests a new approach to confinement improvement through the formation of nonlinearly self-organized stable large-scale structures.

Shaojie Wang · 2013