Relativistic multiregion bounce-averaged Fokker--Planck code for mirror plasmas

Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1986 · J. Comput. Phys.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9991(86)90060-4· OSTI ID:5425223

Matsuda, Y; Stewart, J J

We have developed a unique Fokker--Planck code to study the physics of plasmas that are trapped in magnetic and potential wells of general shape on a collisional time scale. The code was designed primarily to apply to mirror machines, either a simple mirror or a tandem mirror. A plasma confined in a mirror machine generally consists of various groups of particles trapped magnetically and/or electrostatically depending on their energy, magnetic moment, and axial position. Characteristic features of such a plasma are: first, that the bounce times of trapped particles are much shorter than the collision times; and second, that particles trapped in different axial locations can have the same energy and magnetic moment. The former feature allows us to perform bounce-orbit averaging of the kinetic equation, and the latter feature indicates that the distribution function can be multivalued. The code solves a relativistic Fokker--Planck equation averaged over bounce orbits for all the trapped-particle groups. In addition to the Coulomb collision operator, the code includes a synchrotron radiation term, a quasilinear rf diffusion operator, and source and loss terms. The numerical method consists of a mapping technique and a Galerkin finite-element method. Example results using the code for electron-cyclotron resonant heating and neutral beam injection in a tandem mirror are also presented.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, Livermore, California 94550
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5425223
• Journal Information: J. Comput. Phys.; (United States), Vol. 66:1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION
GALERKIN-PETROV METHOD
MAGNETIC MIRRORS
ECR HEATING
KINETIC EQUATIONS
NEUTRAL ATOM BEAM INJECTION
COLLISIONAL PLASMA
COULOMB SCATTERING
MAPPING
SYNCHROTRON RADIATION
TRAPPING
BASIC INTERACTIONS
BEAM INJECTION
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELASTIC SCATTERING
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EQUATIONS
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY HEATING
INTERACTIONS
ITERATIVE METHODS
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLASMA
PLASMA HEATING
RADIATIONS
SCATTERING
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
700105* - Fusion Energy- Plasma Research- Plasma Kinetics-Theoretical- (-1987)
700101 - Fusion Energy- Plasma Research- Confinement
Heating
& Production