A symplectic mapping for the ergodic magnetic limiter and its dynamical analysis

A model for a new bidimensional sympletic mapping describing magnetic field line trajectories in a tokamak perturbed by ergodic magnetic limiter coils is presented. Numerical examples of these trajectories, computed for plasma described by large aspect-ratio equilibria, simulate the main characteristics of trajectories in the toroidal geometry. Also the importance of the symplecticity of the new mapping regarding certain features of non-linear dynamical analysis, for which a large number of iterations is necessary, is shown. Thus, some standard algorithms, such as the Lyapunov exponents and the rotational transforms, are applied with precision in order to characterize regular and chaotic regions in the parameter space, improving the study of bifurcations, routes to chaos, and diffusion in this system.