Novel methods and applications for kinetic plasma simulation
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Understanding the behavior of plasma is important for a broad range of applications, such as understanding the production of energetic particles in astrophysics, developing predictive models for space weather, and harnessing the potential of nuclear fusion power. Due to limitations such as noise from numerical collisions and the large number of simulation particles required to capture the development of nonthermal tails in the particle distribution, multiscale plasma simulations are extremely challenging. In this thesis the simplex-in-cell algorithm is presented, which holds promise for overcoming these difficulties by interpreting the simulation particles as the vertices of a mesh that traces the evolution of the distribution function in phase space. This enables a discretization using deformable phase space volume elements rather than fixed-shape clouds of charge. Using test problems including Landau damping and the Weibel instability it is shown how this new view retains fine-scale structure in the distribution function and can drastically reduce the number of simulation particles required to reach a given noise level. Magnetic reconnection is a promising candidate mechanism for accelerating the nonthermal particles associated with explosive phenomena in astrophysics. Laboratory experiments with high-power lasers can play an important role in the study of the detailed microphysics of reconnection and the dominant particle acceleration mechanisms. In this thesis the results of particle-in-cell simulations used to explore particle acceleration in conditions relevant for current and future laser-driven reconnection experiments are presented. These simulations indicate that laser-driven plasmas offer a promising platform for studying particle acceleration from reconnection, with the potential to reach multi-plasmoid regimes of strong astrophysical interest. These results provide new insight into the physics of reconnection and particle acceleration and are now helping to guide experimental campaigns.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2018; ©2018 |
| Publication date | 2018; 2018 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Totorica, Samuel Richard |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Abel, Tom G, 1970- |
| Degree supervisor | Fiuza, Frederico |
| Thesis advisor | Abel, Tom G, 1970- |
| Thesis advisor | Fiuza, Frederico |
| Thesis advisor | Glenzer, S. H, 1966- |
| Degree committee member | Glenzer, S. H, 1966- |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Physics. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Samuel Richard Totorica. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Physics. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2018. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2018 by Samuel R. Totorica
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