Impact of main ion pressure anisotropy on stellarator impurity transport

Main ions influence impurity dynamics through a variety of mechanisms; in particular, via impurity-ion collisions. To lowest order in an expansion in the main ion mass over the impurity mass, the impurity-ion collision operator only depends on the component of the main ion distribution that is odd in the parallel velocity. These lowest order terms give the parallel friction of the impurities with the main ions, which is typically assumed to be the main cause of collisional impurity transport. Next-order terms in the mass ratio expansion of the impurity-ion collision operator, proportional to the component of the main ion distribution that is even in the parallel velocity, are usually neglected. However, in stellarators, the even component of the main ion distribution can be very large. In this article, such next-order terms in the mass ratio expansion of the impurity-ion collision operator are retained, and analytical expressions for the neoclassical radial flux of trace impurities are calculated in the Pfirsch-Schluter, plateau and 1/nu regimes. The new terms provide a drive for impurity transport that is physically very different from parallel friction: they are associated to anisotropy in the pressure of the main ions, which translates into impurity pressure anisotropy. It is argued that main ion pressure anisotropy must be taken into account for a correct description of impurity transport in certain realistic stellarator plasmas. Examples are given by numerically evaluating the analytical expressions for the impurity flux.