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Title: Eulerian simulations of collisional effects on electrostatic plasma waves

Abstract

The problem of collisions in a plasma is a wide subject with a huge historical literature. In fact, the description of realistic plasmas is a tough problem to attack, both from the theoretical and the numerical point of view. In this paper, a Eulerian time-splitting algorithm for the study of the propagation of electrostatic waves in collisional plasmas is presented. Collisions are modeled through one-dimensional operators of the Fokker-Planck type, both in linear and nonlinear forms. The accuracy of the numerical code is discussed by comparing the numerical results to the analytical predictions obtained in some limit cases when trying to evaluate the effects of collisions in the phenomenon of wave plasma echo and collisional dissipation of Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal waves. Particular attention is devoted to the study of the nonlinear Dougherty collisional operator, recently used to describe the collisional dissipation of electron plasma waves in a pure electron plasma column [M. W. Anderson and T. M. O'Neil, Phys. Plasmas 14, 112110 (2007)]. Finally, for the study of collisional plasmas, a recipe to set the simulation parameters in order to prevent the filamentation problem can be provided, by exploiting the property of velocity diffusion operators to smooth out small velocity scales.

Authors:
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Dipartimento di Fisica and CNISM, Università della Calabria, 87036 Rende (CS) (Italy)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22220578
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 20; Journal Issue: 9; Other Information: (c) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; ALGORITHMS; BERNSTEIN MODE; COLLISIONAL PLASMA; COLLISIONS; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; ELECTRON PLASMA WAVES; FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION; NONLINEAR PROBLEMS; PLASMA SIMULATION

Citation Formats

Pezzi, Oreste, Valentini, Francesco, Perrone, Denise, and Veltri, Pierluigi. Eulerian simulations of collisional effects on electrostatic plasma waves. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4821613.
Pezzi, Oreste, Valentini, Francesco, Perrone, Denise, & Veltri, Pierluigi. Eulerian simulations of collisional effects on electrostatic plasma waves. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4821613
Pezzi, Oreste, Valentini, Francesco, Perrone, Denise, and Veltri, Pierluigi. 2013. "Eulerian simulations of collisional effects on electrostatic plasma waves". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4821613.
@article{osti_22220578,
title = {Eulerian simulations of collisional effects on electrostatic plasma waves},
author = {Pezzi, Oreste and Valentini, Francesco and Perrone, Denise and Veltri, Pierluigi},
abstractNote = {The problem of collisions in a plasma is a wide subject with a huge historical literature. In fact, the description of realistic plasmas is a tough problem to attack, both from the theoretical and the numerical point of view. In this paper, a Eulerian time-splitting algorithm for the study of the propagation of electrostatic waves in collisional plasmas is presented. Collisions are modeled through one-dimensional operators of the Fokker-Planck type, both in linear and nonlinear forms. The accuracy of the numerical code is discussed by comparing the numerical results to the analytical predictions obtained in some limit cases when trying to evaluate the effects of collisions in the phenomenon of wave plasma echo and collisional dissipation of Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal waves. Particular attention is devoted to the study of the nonlinear Dougherty collisional operator, recently used to describe the collisional dissipation of electron plasma waves in a pure electron plasma column [M. W. Anderson and T. M. O'Neil, Phys. Plasmas 14, 112110 (2007)]. Finally, for the study of collisional plasmas, a recipe to set the simulation parameters in order to prevent the filamentation problem can be provided, by exploiting the property of velocity diffusion operators to smooth out small velocity scales.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4821613},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22220578}, journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
issn = {1070-664X},
number = 9,
volume = 20,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013},
month = {Sun Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2013}
}