Theory of resistivity-gradient-driven turbulence in a differentially rotating plasma

The effects of a radially sheared poloidal flow on the structure of resistivity-gradient-driven turbulence in tokamak edge plasmas are self-consistently investigated. Sheared flow induces a coupling between turbulent radial diffusion and poloidal shearing, which results in enhanced decorrelation and a concomitant reduction in the size of the turbulent convection cells. These effects result in the suppression of resistivity-gradient-driven turbulence in the presence of strongly sheared poloidal flows. While the effects of sheared rotation are ultimately more pronounced at high kθ, the onset of enhanced decorrelation occurs first for low kθ modes. In addition to the trivial rotation-induced Doppler shift, sheared poloidal flows also induce a mode frequency that is comparable in size to the enhanced turbulent decorrelation rate, and whose sign varies with the sign of the flow shear. The mode frequency and flow shear can effectively render the turbulent diffusion nonresonant. The implications of these results for this and other models of edge turbulence are discussed.