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Miller & Combi 1994
Miller, R.H. and Combi, M.R. (1994). A Coulomb collision algorithm for weighted particle simulations. Geophysical Research Letters 21: doi: 10.1029/94GL01835. issn: 0094-8276.

A binary Coulomb collision algorithm is developed for weighted particle simulations employing Monte Carlo techniques. Charged particles within a given spatial grid cell are pair-wise scattered, explicitly conserving momentum and implicitly conserving energy. A similar algorithm developed by Takizuka and Abe [1977> conserves momentum and energy provided the particles are unweighted (each particle representing equal fractions of the total particle density). If applied as is to simulations incorporating weighted particles, the plasma temperatures equilibrate to an incorrect temperature, as compared to theory. Using the appropriate pairing statistics, a Coulomb collision algorithm is developed for weighted particles. The algorithm conserves energy and momentum and produces the appropriate relaxation time scales as compared to theoretical predictions. Such an algorithm is necessary for future work studying self-consistent multi-species kinetic transport. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1994

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Abstract

Keywords
Space Plasma Physics, Numerical simulation studies, Space Plasma Physics, Kinetic and MHD theory, Space Plasma Physics, Charged particle motion and acceleration
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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