Variational Symplectic Integrator for Long-Time Simulations of the Guiding-Center Motion of Charged Particles in General Magnetic Fields

Journal Article · Fri Jan 25 04:00:00 EST 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.100.035006· OSTI ID:21020983

Hong, Qin; Xiaoyin, Guan ^[1]

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1. Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)

A variational symplectic integrator for the guiding-center motion of charged particles in general magnetic fields is developed for long-time simulation studies of magnetized plasmas. Instead of discretizing the differential equations of the guiding-center motion, the action of the guiding-center motion is discretized and minimized to obtain the iteration rules for advancing the dynamics. The variational symplectic integrator conserves exactly a discrete Lagrangian symplectic structure, and has better numerical properties over long integration time, compared with standard integrators, such as the standard and variable time-step fourth order Runge-Kutta methods.

• OSTI ID: 21020983
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 100; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CHARGED PARTICLES
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
RUNGE-KUTTA METHOD
SIMULATION
VARIATIONAL METHODS