Sawtooth crash in tokamak as a sequence of multi-region relaxed MHD equilibria

This study examines the sawtooth crash phenomenon in tokamak plasmas by modeling it as a sequence of multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamic (MRxMHD) equilibria. Using the stepped-pressure equilibrium code, we constructed a series of equilibria representing intermediate states during the sawtooth crash, with progressively increasing reconnection regions. Numerical results demonstrated that the system prefers the lower energy non-axisymmetric equilibria with islands and is eventually back to an axisymmetric state, capturing key features of the reconnection process. Comparisons with the nonlinear MHD code M3D-C1 showed remarkable agreement on the field-line topology, the safety factor, and the current profile. However, the simplified MRxMHD model does not resolve the detailed structure of the current sheet. Despite this limitation, MRxMHD offers an insightful approach and a complementary perspective to initial-value MHD simulations.