Dynamics of fast ions and shear Alfvén waves are simulated using MEGA, a global nonlinear hybrid code. The scenario considered is based on JT-60U shot E039672, driven by strong negative-ion-based neutral beams (N-NB), just before the onset of a so-called abrupt large event (ALE). It is found that modes with toroidal mode numbers n = 2, 3, 4 can be destabilized, besides the n = 1 mode studied previously. The properties of the modes with n > 1 are sensitive to the value of the plasma beta and the form of the fast ion distribution, so simulation conditions are set up as realistically as presently possible. When the fast ion drive exceeds a certain threshold, the n = 3 mode is enhanced through a convective amplification process while following fast ions were displaced either by the n = 3 mode itself or by the n = 1 mode. The fast ion transport in several cases, simulated with single- or multiple-n modes, is analysed and implications of the results for the explanation of ALEs are discussed.
Impact of fast ions on a trapped-electron-mode dominated plasma in a JT-60U hybrid scenario