A New Hybrid Particle Simulation Scheme using Field Variables E & B*

A gyrokinetic electron and fully kinetic ion (i.e., GeFi) particle simulation scheme was developed for problems with wave frequency up to  ω<<Ω_e, where Ω_e is the electron cyclotron frequency. Such scheme is applicable for studying plasma dynamics in which the wave modes ranging from Alfven waves to lower-hybrid/whistler waves must be handled on an equal footing; such as the physics of magnetic reconnection with a finite guide field and lower-hybrid/fast mode waves in space and laboratory plasmas. In the gyrokinetic treatment, field equations are usually described by the perturbed scalar (δΦ) and vector (δA) potentials. Poisson's equations are thus needed to solve for the electromagnetic fields and may present computational challenges for nonuniform and multidimensional magnetic field geometries. Here, we present a new GeFi particle simulation scheme that employs the electric field E and magnetic field B as field variables and advances particles accordingly. The present scheme treats the displacement current self-consistently and, thus, includes space-charge waves. The scheme has been successfully benchmarked against the analytical linear dispersion relation in a uniform plasma.