Metriplectic bracket for guiding-center Vlasov-Maxwell-Landau theory

Abstract

The metriplectic formulation of collisional guiding-center Vlasov-Maxwell-Landau theory is presented. The guiding-center Landau collision operator, which describes collisions involving test-particle and field-particle guiding-center orbits, is represented in terms of a symmetric dissipative bracket involving functional derivatives of the guiding-center Vlasov phase-space density $F_{\rm gc}$ and the electromagnetic fields $({\bf D}_{\rm gc},{\bf B})$, where the guiding-center displacement vector ${\bf D}_{\rm gc} \equiv {\bf E} + 4\pi\,{\sf P}_{\rm gc}$ is expressed in terms of the electric field ${\bf E}$ and the guiding-center polarization ${\sf P}_{\rm gc}$. This dissipative Landau bracket conserves guiding-center energy-momentum and angular momentum, as well as satisfying a guiding-center H-theorem.