Discrete particle noise in particle-in-cell simulations of plasma microturbulence Export

@article{citeulike:2860475, abstract = {Recent gyrokinetic simulations of electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence with the global particle-in-cell (PIC) code GTC [Z. Lin et al., Proceedings of the 20th Fusion Energy Conference, Vilamoura, Portugal, 2004 (IAEA, Vienna, 2005)] yielded different results from earlier flux-tube continuum code simulations [F. Jenko and W. Dorland, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 225001 (2002)] despite similar plasma parameters. Differences between the simulation results were attributed to insufficient phase-space resolution and novel physics associated with global simulation models. The results of the global PIC code are reproduced here using the flux-tube PIC code PG3EQ [A. M. Dimits et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 71 (1996)], thereby eliminating global effects as the cause of the discrepancy. The late-time decay of the ETG turbulence and the steady-state heat transport observed in these PIC simulations are shown to result from discrete particle noise. Discrete particle noise is a numerical artifact, so both these PG3EQ simulations and, by inference, the GTC simulations that they reproduced have little to say about steady-state ETG turbulence and the associated anomalous heat transport. In the course of this work several diagnostics are developed to retrospectively test whether a particular PIC simulation is dominated by discrete particle noise.}, author = {Nevins, W. M. and Hammett, G. W. and Dimits, A. M. and Dorland, W. and Shumaker, D. E.}, citeulike-article-id = {2860475}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=PHPAEN000012000012122305000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://link.aip.org/link/?PHP/12/122305}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2118729}, doi = {10.1063/1.2118729}, journal = {Physics of Plasmas}, keywords = {algorithm, discrete, error, noise, particle, particle-in-cell, pic}, number = {12}, posted-at = {2008-06-04 08:51:49}, priority = {2}, publisher = {AIP}, title = {Discrete particle noise in particle-in-cell simulations of plasma microturbulence}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2118729}, volume = {12}, year = {2005} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2860475 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2860475 N2 - Recent gyrokinetic simulations of electron temperature gradient (ETG) turbulence with the global particle-in-cell (PIC) code GTC [Z. Lin et al., Proceedings of the 20th Fusion Energy Conference, Vilamoura, Portugal, 2004 (IAEA, Vienna, 2005)] yielded different results from earlier flux-tube continuum code simulations [F. Jenko and W. Dorland, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 225001 (2002)] despite similar plasma parameters. Differences between the simulation results were attributed to insufficient phase-space resolution and novel physics associated with global simulation models. The results of the global PIC code are reproduced here using the flux-tube PIC code PG3EQ [A. M. Dimits et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 71 (1996)], thereby eliminating global effects as the cause of the discrepancy. The late-time decay of the ETG turbulence and the steady-state heat transport observed in these PIC simulations are shown to result from discrete particle noise. Discrete particle noise is a numerical artifact, so both these PG3EQ simulations and, by inference, the GTC simulations that they reproduced have little to say about steady-state ETG turbulence and the associated anomalous heat transport. In the course of this work several diagnostics are developed to retrospectively test whether a particular PIC simulation is dominated by discrete particle noise. IS - 12 JF - Physics of Plasmas TI - Discrete particle noise in particle-in-cell simulations of plasma microturbulence PB - AIP VL - 12 KW - algorithm KW - discrete KW - error KW - noise KW - particle KW - particle-in-cell KW - pic AU - Nevins, WM AU - Hammett, GW AU - Dimits, AM AU - Dorland, W AU - Shumaker, DE PY - 2005/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2118729 ER -