Zonal flow suppression of turbulent transport in the optimized stellarators W7-X and QSTK

We present a comparative study of transport in two optimized stellarator configurations: Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) and a recent design called Quasi-Symmetric Turbulence Konzept (QSTK). Using global Gyrokinetic Toroidal Code (GTC), we explore the role of zonal flows (ZFs) in suppressing electrostatic Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG) driven turbulence in both configurations. The simulations reveal that ZFs significantly reduce ion heat transport in both W7-X and QSTK, with a {red}{ lower value of heat flux} on the latter configuration, as suggested by the apparently higher linear threshold ("critical") gradients for ITG modes. The study also highlights that both stellarators exhibit similar mode structures. The results support the notion that linear stability measures, in combination with nonlinear stabilization by zonal flows, can play an important role in the suppression of nonlinear heat fluxes.