Impact of RMP magnetic field simulation models on fast ion losses

Two opposing approaches to include resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) in fast ion simulations are compared, one where the vacuum field caused by the RMP current coils is added to the axisymmetric MHD equilibrium, the other where the MHD equilibrium includes the plasma response within the 3D deformation of its flux-surfaces. The first model admits large regions of stochastic field-lines that penetrate the plasma without alteration. The second assumes nested flux-surfaces with a single magnetic axis, which excludes stochastic field-lines, and embeds the RMPs within a 3D saturated ideal MHD state. The two descriptions of RMPs have been implemented in the VENUS-LEVIS guiding-centre orbit code. Simulations of fast ion populations resulting from MAST neutral beam injection have been applied to MAST n = 3 RMP coil configuration. At low beam energies, particle losses are dominated by parallel transport due to the stochasticity of the field-lines (vacuum-RMP model), whereas at higher energies, losses are accredited to the 3D structure of the perturbed plasma and the resulting drifts (equilibrium-RMP model).