A Gyrokinetic Simulation Model for Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fluctuations in Magnetized Plasmas

Abstract

We present a new model for simulating the electromagnetic fluctuations with frequencies much lower than the ion cyclotron frequency in plasmas confined in general magnetic configurations. This novel model (termed as GK-E&B) employs nonlinear gyrokinetic equations formulated in terms of electromagnetic fields along with momentum balance equations for solving fields. It, thus, not only includes kinetic effects, such as wave-particle interaction and microscopic (ion Larmor radius scale) physics; but also is computationally more efficient than the conventional formulation described in terms of potentials. As a benchmark, we perform linear as well as nonlinear simulations of the kinetic Alfven wave; demonstrating physics in agreement with the analytical theories.