Physics of Plasmas Devoted to original contributions to and reviews of the physics of plasmas, including magnetofluid mechanics, kinetic theory and statistical mechanics of fully and partially ionized gases.

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Physics of Plasmas -- May 1999 -- Volume 6, Issue 5 pp. 1796-1803

Plasma simulation studies using multilevel physics models

W. Park, E. V. Belova, G. Y. Fu, and X. Z. Tang

Princeton University Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey

H. R. Strauss

New York University, New York, New York

L. E. Sugiyama

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

(Received 17 November 1998; accepted 14 January 1999)

The question of how to proceed toward ever more realistic plasma simulation studies using ever increasing computing power is addressed. The answer presented here is the M3D (Multilevel 3D) project, which has developed a code package with a hierarchy of physics levels that resolve increasingly complete subsets of phase-spaces and are thus increasingly more realistic. The rationale for the multilevel physics models is given. Each physics level is described and examples of its application are given. The existing physics levels are fluid models (3D configuration space), namely magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and two-fluids; and hybrid models, namely gyrokinetic-energetic-particle/MHD (5D energetic particle phase-space), gyrokinetic-particle-ion/fluid-electron (5D ion phase-space), and full-kinetic-particle-ion/fluid-electron level (6D ion phase-space). Resolving electron phase-space (5D or 6D) remains a future project. Phase-space-fluid models are not used in favor of f particle models. A practical and accurate nonlinear fluid closure for noncollisional plasmas seems not likely in the near future. ©1999 American Institute of Physics.

PII: S1070-664X(99)93005-7
DOI: 10.1063/1.873437
PACS: 52.65.-y        Additional Information

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Citing Articles

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   L. E. Sugiyama et al., Phys. Plasmas 7, 4644 (2000)