Collisionless simulation of nonlinear plasma dynamics is one of the outstanding problems of plasma physics as well as a strong challenge in computational physics. Here, a crucial test for the theoretical study of collisionless plasmas based on large scale numerical simulations is proposed. Plasma echoes are shown to provide a highly selective benchmark for the algorithms adopted in order to follow the collisionless, Hamiltonian dynamics of high temperature, rarefied plasmas described by the Vlasov-Poisson system of equations. The proposed test is more discriminating than those based on the conservation of (a finite set of) Casimir invariants and gives a deeper insight on the numerical dissipative processes at play. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
"Echography" of Vlasov codes
CALIFANO, FRANCESCO;PEGORARO, FRANCESCO
2006-01-01
Abstract
Collisionless simulation of nonlinear plasma dynamics is one of the outstanding problems of plasma physics as well as a strong challenge in computational physics. Here, a crucial test for the theoretical study of collisionless plasmas based on large scale numerical simulations is proposed. Plasma echoes are shown to provide a highly selective benchmark for the algorithms adopted in order to follow the collisionless, Hamiltonian dynamics of high temperature, rarefied plasmas described by the Vlasov-Poisson system of equations. The proposed test is more discriminating than those based on the conservation of (a finite set of) Casimir invariants and gives a deeper insight on the numerical dissipative processes at play. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.