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Title: Discrete kinetic eigenmode spectra of electron plasma oscillations in weakly collisional plasma: A numerical study

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4789882· OSTI ID:22113337
 [1]; ;  [2];  [3]
  1. Space Weather Lab, NASA/GSFC Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States)
  2. Department of Physics, Center for Integrated Computation and Analysis of Reconnection and Turbulence, Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824 (United States)
  3. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775 (United States)

It has been demonstrated that in the presence of weak collisions, described by the Lenard-Bernstein (LB) collision operator, the Landau-damped solutions become true eigenmodes of the system and constitute a complete set [C.-S. Ng et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 1974 (1999) and C. S. Ng et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 065002 (2004)]. We present numerical results from an Eulerian Vlasov code that incorporates the Lenard-Bernstein collision operator [A. Lenard and I. B. Bernstein, Phys. Rev. 112, 1456 (1958)]. The effect of collisions on the numerical recursion phenomenon seen in Vlasov codes is discussed. The code is benchmarked against exact linear eigenmode solutions in the presence of weak collisions, and a spectrum of Landau-damped solutions is determined within the limits of numerical resolution. Tests of the orthogonality and the completeness relation are presented.

OSTI ID:
22113337
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2013 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English