Reconstruction of electron velocity distribution function and Gibbs entropy from electron cyclotron emission in magnetized plasmas

Abstract: We propose a method for reconstructing the fluctuation components of the electron velocity distribution function f(v_perp), and the electron entropy, which is a functional of f(v_perp) expressed as -f(v_perp)lnf(v_perp)dv_perp, using the harmonic spectrum from pure X-mode electron cyclotron emission (ECE) in optically thin plasmas. Here, v_perp represents the electron velocity perpendicular to the background magnetic field. This formulation employs the maximum entropy method in velocity space using the Hankel transform, which converts from v_perp space to p space (where p is the index of the wavenumber in velocity space). Numerical tests validated the effectiveness of the proposed method, which is applicable across a wide range of magnetized plasma conditions, including conditions with both non-relativistic and relativistic electrons, except in cases of harmonic overlap or under optically thick conditions. Notably, this method does not require radiometer calibration for ECE measurements. This method fascilitates the experimental evaluation of electron entropy transport in fusion plasma experiments. Moreover, when combined with measurements in k-space (spatial distribution), this approach enables entropy distribution acquisition in phase space (k-p space).