High-order continuum kinetic method for modeling plasma dynamics in phase space

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2014 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4904797· OSTI ID:1213585

Vogman, G. V. ^[1]; Colella, P. ^[2]; Shumlak, U. ^[3]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
3. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

Continuum methods offer a high-fidelity means of simulating plasma kinetics. While computationally intensive, these methods are advantageous because they can be cast in conservation-law form, are not susceptible to noise, and can be implemented using high-order numerical methods. Advances in continuum method capabilities for modeling kinetic phenomena in plasmas require the development of validation tools in higher dimensional phase space and an ability to handle non-cartesian geometries. To that end, a new benchmark for validating Vlasov-Poisson simulations in 3D (x,v_x,v_y) is presented. The benchmark is based on the Dory-Guest-Harris instability and is successfully used to validate a continuum finite volume algorithm. To address challenges associated with non-cartesian geometries, unique features of cylindrical phase space coordinates are described. Preliminary results of continuum kinetic simulations in 4D (r,z,v_r,v_z) phase space are presented.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1213585
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1639; Conference: 9th International Conference on Dense Z Pinches, Napa, California (United States), 3–7 August 2014; ISSN 0094-243X
• Publisher: AIP
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
phase space methods
plasma dynamics
plasma instabilities