Particle collisionality in scaled kinetic plasma simulations

Totorica, S. R.; Lezhnin, K. V.; Fox, W.

doi:10.1016/j.cpc.2025.109899

Particle collisionality in scaled kinetic plasma simulations

Journal Article · Fri Oct 17 20:00:00 EDT 2025 · Computer Physics Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2025.109899· OSTI ID:3006370

^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]

Princeton Univ., NJ (United States); National Inst. of Natural Sciences (NINS), Tokyo (Japan)
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Princeton Univ., NJ (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Kinetic plasma processes, such as magnetic reconnection, collisionless shocks, and turbulence, are fundamental to the dynamics of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. Simulating these processes often requires particle-in-cell (PIC) methods, but the computational cost of fully kinetic simulations can necessitate the use of artificial parameters, such as a reduced speed of light and ion-to-electron mass ratio, to decrease expense. While these approximations can preserve overall dynamics under specific conditions, they introduce nontrivial impacts on particle collisionality that are not yet well understood. In this work, we develop a method to scale particle collisionality in simulations employing an artificial speed of light and/or an artificial ion-to-electron mass ratio. By introducing species-dependent scaling factors, we independently adjust inter- and intra-species collision rates to better replicate the collisional properties of the physical system. Our approach maintains the fidelity of electron and ion transport properties while preserving critical relaxation rates, such as energy exchange timescales, within the limits of weakly collisional plasma theory. Furthermore, we demonstrate the accuracy of this scaling method through benchmarking tests against theoretical relaxation rates and connecting to fluid theory, highlighting its ability to retain key transport properties. Existing collisional PIC implementations can be easily modified to include this scaling, which will enable deeper insights into the behavior of marginally collisional plasmas across various contexts.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 3006370

Journal Information:: Computer Physics Communications, Journal Name: Computer Physics Communications Vol. 319; ISSN 0010-4655

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (23)

A binary collision model for plasma simulation with a particle code Takizuka, Tomonor; Abe, Hirotada Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 25, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9991(77)90099-7	journal	November 1977
Numerical methods for particle simulations at extreme densities and temperatures: Weighted particles, relativistic collisions and reduced currents Sentoku, Y.; Kemp, A. J. Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 227, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2008.03.043	journal	July 2008
The Plasma Simulation Code: A modern particle-in-cell code with patch-based load-balancing Germaschewski, Kai; Fox, William; Abbott, Stephen Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 318 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2016.05.013	journal	August 2016
Cosmic Ray Origins: An Introduction Blandford, Roger; Simeon, Paul; Yuan, Yajie Nuclear Physics B - Proceedings Supplements, Vol. 256-257 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2014.10.002	journal	November 2014
Transition in electron physics of magnetic reconnection in weakly collisional plasma Le, A.; Egedal, J.; Daughton, W. Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377814000907	journal	November 2014
Collisionless magnetic reconnection: Electron processes and transport modeling Hesse, Michael; Birn, Joachim; Kuznetsova, Masha Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 106, Issue A3 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JA001002	journal	March 2001
Geospace Environment Modeling magnetic reconnection challenge: Simulations with a full particle electromagnetic code Pritchett, P. L. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 106, Issue A3 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JA001006	journal	March 2001
Influence of Coulomb collisions on the structure of reconnection layers Daughton, W.; Roytershteyn, V.; Albright, B. J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3191718	journal	July 2009
How large can the electron to proton mass ratio be in particle-in-cell simulations of unstable systems? Bret, A.; Dieckmann, M. E. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3357336	journal	March 2010
Improved modeling of relativistic collisions and collisional ionization in particle-in-cell codes Pérez, F.; Gremillet, L.; Decoster, A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4742167	journal	August 2012
Astrophysical particle acceleration mechanisms in colliding magnetized laser-produced plasmas Fox, W.; Park, J.; Deng, W. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4993204	journal	September 2017
Kinetic simulation of magnetic field generation and collisionless shock formation in expanding laboratory plasmas Fox, W.; Matteucci, J.; Moissard, C. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 25, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5050813	journal	October 2018
Kinetic simulations of piston-driven collisionless shock formation in magnetized laboratory plasmas Schaeffer, D. B.; Fox, W.; Matteucci, J. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 27, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5123229	journal	April 2020
Exploiting multi-scale parallelism for large scale numerical modelling of laser wakefield accelerators Fonseca, R. A.; Vieira, J.; Fiuza, F. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, Vol. 55, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/0741-3335/55/12/124011	journal	November 2013
Electron and Ion Runaway in a Fully Ionized Gas. I Dreicer, H. Physical Review, Vol. 115, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.115.238	journal	July 1959
Statistical kinetic treatment of relativistic binary collisions Peano, F.; Marti, M.; Silva, L. O. Physical Review E, Vol. 79, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.79.025701	journal	February 2009
Dynamical friction in a relativistic plasma Pike, O. J.; Rose, S. J. Physical Review E, Vol. 89, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.053107	journal	May 2014
Transport coefficients of a relativistic plasma Pike, O. J.; Rose, S. J. Physical Review E, Vol. 93, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.93.053208	journal	May 2016
Transition from collisional to kinetic regimes in large-scale reconnection layers Daughton, W.; Roytershteyn, V.; Albright, B. J. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 103, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.065004	journal	August 2009
Fast Magnetic Reconnection in Laser-Produced Plasma Bubbles Fox, W.; Bhattacharjee, A.; Germaschewski, K. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.215003	journal	May 2011
Biermann-Battery-Mediated Magnetic Reconnection in 3D Colliding Plasmas Matteucci, J.; Fox, W.; Bhattacharjee, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 121, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.095001	journal	August 2018
Ion Acceleration in Driven Magnetic Reconnection during High-energy–Density Plasma Interaction Pongkitiwanichakul, Peera; Fox, William; Ruffolo, David The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 907, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abccd3	journal	February 2021
Kinetic Simulations of Electron Pre-energization by Magnetized Collisionless Shocks in Expanding Laboratory Plasmas Lezhnin, K. V.; Fox, W.; Schaeffer, D. B. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 908, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abe407	journal	February 2021

Similar Records

Field theory and a structure-preserving geometric particle-in-cell algorithm for drift wave instability and turbulence

Journal Article · Mon Sep 09 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Nuclear Fusion · OSTI ID:1660945

Accelerated steady-state electrostatic particle-in-cell simulation of Langmuir probes

Journal Article · Sun Jan 02 23:00:00 EST 2022 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:1978986

Particle collisionality in scaled kinetic plasma simulations

Citation Formats

References (23)

Similar Records

Related Subjects