Traversing the Slopes of Phase Space with ALPS: Linear Dispersion Relations for Arbitrary Plasma Distributions

ALPS is a parallelised numerical code that solves the Vlasov-Maxwell dispersion relation in hot (even relativistic) magnetised plasma. 

It allows for any number of particle species with arbitrary gyrotropic equilibrium distribution functions supporting waves with any direction of propagation with respect to the background magnetic field, and is available at https://danielver02.github.io/ALPS/

In this presentation, we discuss recent updates to the underlying numerical methods implemented in the code, including incorporating biMaxwellian and cold plasma susceptibilities for secondary components, using analytical expressions for the velocity distribution, and the improvement of the hybrid analytic continuation method to more accurately represent the distribution in the complex plane.

We present a selection of recent applications of the ALPS code to a variety of space and astrophysical observations and simulations, highlighting the additional physical insight provided by the more sophisticated treatment of the linear plasma response.