Variational Symplectic Integrator for Long-Time Simulations of the Guiding-Center Motion of Charged Particles in General Magnetic Fields

Qin, H. ; Guan, X.

Princeton University. Plasma Physics Laboratory.

关键词: Differential Equations;    Numerical Simulation;    Charged Particles;    Magnetic Fields;    Simulation Gyrokinetic Equations;   

DOI  :  10.2172/960290
RP-ID  :  PPPL-4286
RP-ID  :  DE-ACO2-76CHO3073
RP-ID  :  960290

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

A variational symplectic integrator for the guiding-center motion of charged particles in general magnetic fields is developed for long-time simulation studies of magnetized plasmas. Instead of discretizing the differential equations of the guiding-center motion, the action of the guiding-center motion is discretized and minimized to obtain the iteration rules for advancing the dynamics. The variational symplectic integrator conserves exactly a discrete Lagrangian symplectic structure, and has better numerical properties over long integration time, compared with standard integrators, such as the standard and variable time-step fourth order Runge-Kutta methods.