Numerical simulations of ion temperature gradient-driven turbulence

High resolution numerical simulations of plasma turbulence driven by ion temperature gradients in the presence of magnetic field inhomogeneities have been performed with special attention to the behavior of the anomalous ion energy flux. The pressure gradient evolution is treated consistently with energy transport, allowing for the study of the saturated state in situations of relevance to tokamak plasmas. It is found that the presence of large-scale coherent structures significantly affects the turbulent losses, leading to a reduction of the flux with respect to mixing length estimates.