Fusion performance in tokamaks hinges critically on the efficacy of the Edge Transport Barrier (ETB) at suppressing energy losses. The new concept of "fingerprints" is introduced to identify the instabilities that cause the transport losses in the ETB of many of today's experiments, from widely posited candidates. Analysis of the Gyrokinetic-Maxwell equations, and gyrokinetic simulations of experiments, find that each mode type produces characteristic ratios of transport in the various channels: density, heat and impurities. This, together with experimental observations of transport in some channel, or, of the relative size of the driving sources of channels, can identify or determine the dominant modes causing energy transport. In multiple ELMy H-mode cases that are examined, these fingerprints indicate that MHD-like modes are apparently not the dominant agent of energy transport; rather, this role is played by Micro-Tearing Modes (MTM) and Electron Temperature Gradient (ETG) modes, and in addition, possibly Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG)/Trapped Electron Modes (ITG/TEM) on JET. MHD-like modes may dominate the electron particle losses. Fluctuation frequency can also be an important means of identification, and is often closely related to the transport fingerprint. The analytical arguments unify and explain previously disparate experimental observations on multiple devices, including DIII-D, JET and ASDEX-U, and detailed simulations of two DIII-D ETBs also demonstrate and corroborate this.

The first high fidelity gyrokinetic simulations of the energy losses in the transport barriers of large tokamaks in pursuit of fusion gain are presented. These simulations calculate the turbulent energy losses with an extensive treatment of relevant physical effects-fully kinetic, non-linear, electromagnetic-inclusive of all major plasma species, and in equilibria with relevant shape and local bootstrap current for fusion-relevant cases. We find that large plasmas with a small normalized gyroradius lie in an unexpected regime of enhanced losses that can prevent the projected energy gain. Our simulations are qualitatively consistent with recent experiments on JET with an ITER-like wall. Interestingly and very importantly, the simulations predict parameter regimes of reduced transport that are quite fusion-favorable.

It is found that resistive wall modes with a toroidal number n = 1 in tokamaks can be stabilized by plasma rotation at a low Mach number, with the rotation frequency being lower than the ion bounce frequency but larger than the ion and electron precession drift frequencies. The stabilization is the result of the shear-Alfvén resonance, since the thermal resonance effect is negligible in this rotation frequency range. This indicates that tokamaks can operate at normalized pressure values beyond the no-wall stability limit even for low values of plasma rotation, such as those expected in fusion reactor scale devices.

It is shown that the error field in a tokamak can be shielded by a flowing liquid metal wall. In particular, a flowing liquid metal wall can prevent resonance amplification of the error field by the plasma near its no-wall stability limit.