Development of variational guiding center algorithms for parallel calculations in experimental magnetic equilibria. (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ellison, C Leland; Finn, J M; Qin, H; Tang, W M
• Is Part Of: Plasma physics and controlled fusion. Volume 57:Number 5(2015:May)
• Page Start: 111
• Page End: 125
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: Plasma (Ionized gases) -- Periodicals; Controlled fusion -- Periodicals; 530.44
• DOI: 10.1088/0741-3335/57/5/054007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0741-3335

Abstract

<abstract> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Structure-preserving algorithms obtained via discrete variational principles exhibit strong promise for the calculation of guiding center test particle trajectories. The non-canonical Hamiltonian structure of the guiding center equations forms a novel and challenging context for geometric integration. To demonstrate the practical relevance of these methods, a prototypical variational midpoint algorithm is applied to an experimental magnetic equilibrium. The stability characteristics, conservation properties and implementation requirements associated with the variational algorithms are addressed. Furthermore, computational run time is reduced for large numbers of particles by parallelizing the calculation to use general-purpose graphics processing unit hardware.</p> </abstract>