A Particle Method for a Collisionless Plasma with Infinite Mass

Abstract

The one-dimensional Vlasov-Poisson system is considered and a particle method is developed to approximate solutions without compact support which tend to a fixed background of charge as $|x|\to \infty$. Such a system of equations can be used to model kinetic phenomena occurring in plasma physics, such as the solar wind. The particle method is constructed, implemented, and used to determine information regarding the time asymptotics of the electrostatic field.

arXiv comment10 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables; submitted to Mathematics and Computers in Simulation