Kinetic damping of toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes

The damping of Toroidal Alfvén Eigenmodes in Joint European Torus (JET) [P. H. Rebut and B. E. Kenn, Fusion Technol.FUSTE811, 13 (1987)] plasmas is investigated by using a reduced kinetic model. Typically no significant damping is found to occur near the center of the plasma due to mode conversion to kinetic Alfvén waves. In contrast, continuum damping from resonance near the plasma edge may be significant, and when it is, it gives rise to damping rates that are compatible with the experimental observations.