Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Subject 6.651J /8.613J /22.611J R. Parker

1 December 2005 Due: 8 December 2005
Problem Set 9

Problem 1.

In this problem well develop a general (if a bit formal) derivation of the Vlasov equation.

As we discussed in class, conservation of particles requires

0
) (
=

Dt
v r f D
r r
,

where the symbol D/Dt means that the time derivative is to be taken along a particle orbit in phase
space. Specifically,

t
t v r f t t t t v r a v t v r f
t
Dt
f D

+ + +
=
) , , ( ) , ) , , ( , (
) 0 lim(
) (
r r r r r r r r
.

a) Show that the RHS of this expression reduces to

f a f v
t
f
v
+ +

r r


b) Now consider the term

t
v r v r
t
Dt
v r D
t v r t t t a v t v r

=

+ + + , , , ,
) 0 lim(
) (
r r r r r r
r r r r
r r


As indicated, the rate of change of the phase space volume is to be calculated along a particle trajectory
in phase space. For small t along this trajectory, the particle orbit is simply given by

t t v r a v v
t v r r
+ =
+ =
) , , ( '
'
r r r r r
r r r

These equations define a simple transformation of variables between the v r
r r
, and ' , ' v r
r r
coordinates.
Accordingly, a well-known mathematical result is that the volume elements are related by the J acobian
of the transformation defined as the determinant of the matrix

=
i
j
ij
x
x
c .

Use this result to calculate
Dt
v r D ) (
r r

and complete the derivation of Vlasovs equation.


Problem 2.

In deriving the fluid energy equation in class, we got to the following point:

) , (
2 2
5
2
1
2
3
2
1
2 2 2

= +

+ + +

f f C v v d
m
u n E q q u u nkT u mnu nkT mnu
t
r r
r
r r
t
r r
.

It was then stated that this equation could be transformed into the simpler form:

Q q
x
u
u p
dt
kT d
n
j
i
ij
+

= +
r r
2
3
,
where the summation convention applies and

) , (
2
2

f f C w w d
m
Q
r
.


Show that the second form follows from the first by using the continuity equation, the result of dotting
the momentum equation with , and the identity u
r

j
i
ij
x
u
u u

= + ) ( ) (
r
t t
r
.

Problem 3.

Use the 1-D model of the SOL developed in class to calculate the temperature at the divertor plates for
Alcator C-Mod using the following assumptions and parameters:

Conduction limited regime ( is neglible) nu
Temperature equilibrated ( T T T
i e
= )
Length of divertor channel m 10 = l
Temperature channel input =50 eV
Power density at channel input =500 MW/m
2
.

Sketch where x is distance along the divertor channel from the input. ) (x T