Project Description
Project F7 started in October 2023 and developed numerical methods that bridge kinetic and fluid scales in relativistic plasmas, as a basis for studying magnetic reconnection in astrophysical jets. The project was completed at the end of Phase 1 of CIM; its methods and results are continued in project F2. The main results are:- Structure-preserving particle-in-cell (PIC) methods for the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system, including a semi-implicit scheme that conserves energy and the divergence constraints, and a dual-grid formulation that avoids costly mass-matrix inversions. The method was reimplemented in the AMReX library together with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.
- A structure-preserving finite-element framework for the Vlasov-Maxwell system and for a hybrid relativistic cold fluid-particle model.
- Together with projects F1 and F2: optimal closure parameters for ten-moment two-fluid simulations of plasma turbulence, benchmarked against fully kinetic simulations.
- Together with projects F2 and A5: semi-implicit PIC simulations of relativistic magnetic reconnection that reproduce energetic power-law particle spectra at considerably lower resolution than explicit codes.
These results feed directly into the development of a relativistic 14-moment model and the studies of the plasmoid instability in project F2 in Phase 2.
