Kinetic Ballooning Mode: Physics Issues in a Burning Plasma Experiment

C. Z. Cheng

Ballooning modes are shear Alfven type modes driven by plasma pressure gradient in a bad magnetic field curvature. The ideal MHD ballooning stability limit is one of the most often used parameters for determining the operational boundaries of magnetic confinement systems; however the physics of the Ballooning mode can be strongly affected by kinetic effects. The physics of Ballooning modes and important implications for burning plasma experiments will be discussed.