Experiments in the DIII-D tokamak show that fast-ion transport suddenly becomes stiff above a critical threshold in the presence of many overlapping small-amplitude Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs). The threshold is phase-space dependent and occurs when particle orbits become stochastic due to resonances with AEs. Above threshold, equilibrium fast-ion density profiles are unchanged despite increased drive, and intermittent fast-ion losses are observed. Fast-ion Dα spectroscopy indicates radially localized transport of the copassing population at radii that correspond to the location of midcore AEs. The observation of stiff fast-ion transport suggests that reduced models can be used to effectively predict alpha profiles, beam ion profiles, and losses to aid in the design of optimized scenarios for future burning plasma devices.

Neutral beam injection into reversed magnetic shear DIII-D and ASDEX Upgrade plasmas produces a variety of Alfvénic activity including toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmodes and reversed shear Alfvén eigenmodes (RSAEs). These modes are studied during the discharge current ramp phase when incomplete current penetration results in a high central safety factor and increased drive due to multiple higher order resonances. Scans of injected 80 keV neutral beam power on DIII-D showed a transition from classical to AE dominated fast ion transport and, as previously found, discharges with strong AE activity exhibit a deficit in neutron emission relative to classical predictions. By keeping beam power constant and delaying injection during the current ramp, AE activity was reduced or eliminated and a significant improvement in fast ion confinement observed. Similarly, experiments in ASDEX Upgrade using early 60 keV neutral beam injection drove multiple unstable RSAEs. Periods of strong RSAE activity are accompanied by a large (peak dS n =S n % 60%) neutron deficit. Losses of beam ions modulated at AE frequencies were observed using large bandwidth energy and pitch resolving fast ion loss scintillator detectors and clearly identify their role in the process. Modeling of DIII-D loss measurements using guiding center following codes to track particles in the presence of ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) calculated AE structures (validated by comparison to experiment) is able to reproduce the dominant energy, pitch, and temporal evolution of these losses. While loss of both co and counter current fast ions occurs, simulations show that the dominant loss mechanism observed is the mode induced transition of counter-passing fast ions to lost trapped orbits. Modeling also reproduces a coherent signature of AE induced losses and it was found that these coherent losses scale proportionally with the amplitude; an additional incoherent contribution scales quadratically with the mode amplitude.

Repetitive bursting instabilities with strong frequency chirping occur in highbeta, beam-heated plasmas with safety factor q > 1 in the DIII-D tokamak. Although the mode structures differ, in many ways, the off-axis fishbones are similar to the q = 1 fishbones first observed on the Poloidal Divertor Experiment (PDX). The modes are driven by energetic trapped ions at the fastion precession frequency. During a burst, the frequency changes most rapidly as the mode reaches its maximum amplitude. Larger amplitude bursts have larger growth rates and frequency chirps. Unlike PDX fishbones, the decay phase is highly variable and is usually shorter than the growth phase. Also, the waveform is highly distorted by higher harmonics during the latter portion of a burst. The radial mode structure alters its shape during the burst. Like PDX fishbones, the modes expel trapped ions in a 'beacon' with a definite phase relationship relative to the mode. Seven types of loss detectors measure the beacon. The losses scale linearly with mode amplitude. The neutron rate changes most rapidly at maximum mode amplitude but, depending on the loss diagnostic, the losses often peak a few cycles later. The non-ambipolar fast-ion losses cause a sudden change in toroidal rotation frequency across the entire plasma. In addition to an overall drop, the neutron signal oscillates in response to the wave. Unlike the beacon of lost particles, which maintains a fixed phase relative to the mode, the phase of the neutron oscillations steadily increases throughout the burst, with the greatest phase slippage occurring in the highly nonlinear phase near maximum mode amplitude.

Neutral beam injection into a plasma with negative central shear produces a rich spectrum of toroidicity-induced and reversed-shear Alfvén eigenmodes in the DIII-D tokamak. The application of fast-ion D α (FIDA) spectroscopy shows that the central fast-ion profile is flattened in the inner half of the discharge. Neutron and equilibrium measurements corroborate the FIDA data. The temporal evolution of the current profile is also strongly modified. Studies in similar discharges show that flattening of the profile correlates with the mode amplitude and that both types of Alfvén modes correlate with fast-ion transport. Calculations by the ORBIT code do not explain the observed fast-ion transport for the measured mode amplitudes, however. Possible explanations for the discrepancy are considered.

An energetic-particle (EP)-driven "off-axis-fishbone-like mode (OFM)" often triggers a resistive wall mode (RWM) in JT-60U and DIII-D devices, preventing long-duration high-b N discharges. In these experiments, the EPs are energetic ions (70-85 keV) injected by neutral beams to produce high-pressure plasmas. EP-driven bursting events reduce the EP density and the plasma rotation simultaneously. These changes are significant in high-b N low-rotation plasmas, where the RWM stability is predicted to be strongly influenced by the EP precession drift resonance and by the plasma rotation near the q ¼ 2 surface (kinetic effects). Analysis of these effects on stability with a self-consistent perturbation to the mode structure using the MARS-K code showed that the impact of EP losses and rotation drop is sufficient to destabilize the RWM in low-rotation plasmas, when the plasma rotation normalized by Alfvén frequency is only a few tenths of a percent near the q ¼ 2 surface. The OFM characteristics are very similar in JT-60U and DIII-D, including nonlinear mode evolution. The modes grow initially like a classical fishbone, and then the mode structure becomes strongly distorted. The dynamic response of the OFM to an applied n ¼ 1 external field indicates that the mode retains its external kink character. These comparative studies suggest that an energetic particle-driven "off-axis-fishbone-like mode" is a new EP-driven branch of the external kink mode in wall-stabilized plasmas, analogous to the relationship of the classical fishbone branch to the internal kink mode.