Threshold effects in the interaction of a plasma with injected pellets in the T-10 tokamak

Sharp changes (peaks and dips) of the radiation signal from carbon pellets injected into the plasma in the tokamak are related to the level of introduced disturbances. The threshold size (near 0.3 mm) is determined beginning with which a pellet in the ohmic plasma of the T-10 tokamak initiates tearing processes in a region with q < 2 and Kadomtsev reconnection in the central region with q = 1. A model describing ablation under the conditions of pellet-induced reconnections is proposed. This model satisfactorily describes the observed shape of the ablation rate curve.