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Languages : en
Pages : 4
Book Description
We propose a computational method to self-consistently model small angle collisional effects. This method may be added to standard Particle-In-Cell (PIC) plasma simulations to include collisions, or as an alternative to solving the Fokker-Planck (FP) equation using finite difference methods. The distribution function is represented by a large number of particles. The particle velocities change due to the drag force, and the diffusion in velocity is represented by a random process. This is similar to previous Monte-Carlo methods except we calculate the drag force and diffusion tensor self- consistently. The particles are weighted to a grid in velocity space and associated Poisson equations'' are solved for the Rosenbluth potentials. The motivation is to avoid the very time consuming method of Coulomb scattering pair by pair. First the approximation for small angle Coulomb collisions is discussed. Next, the FP-PIC collision method is outlined. Then we show a test of the particle advance modeling an electron beam scattering off a fixed ion background. 4 refs.