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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
Gyrokinetic theory provides a robust foundation for the development of efficient computational algorithms for kinetic simulation of magnetized plasmas on long time scales. Gyrokinetic simulations are used extensively in the fusion community, where they continue to provide important insights into both linear and nonlinear dynamics of magnetically confined plasmas. The key to their computational efficiency lies in the systematic removal of gyroperiod time scales, effectively reducing the phase space from 6D to 5D. After a brief overview of the theory, I will outline the method of gyrokinetic particle simulation, and highlight some of its applications. The application to space plasmas will mainly focus on our recent results concerning nonlinear evolution of the mirror instability.
Host: Zehua Guo