COMPUTER-MODEL FOR BOUNDED PLASMA

A computer model is developed for simulating a bounded plasma slab. The two dimensional electrostatic model is periodic in one dimension and bounded in the other. In the non-periodic dimension, one can specify values of the potential or the normal electric field on both boundaries, or one can specify that a vacuum exists outside the plasma or any combination of these on each boundary. The plasma model can be non-neutral. Because the final solution has a particularly simple form, it can be obtained with only one Fast Fourier Transform, and therefore this model is only slightly slower than conventional doubly periodic models. External electrostatic sources, either on the boundaries or in the plasma interior, can be added in a natural way. The computer model is tested by examining the propagation of linear waves in a plasma slab bounded by vacuum. The predictions of a dispersion relation based on a warm fluid model are compared with the results obtained from the computer model, with very good agreement for the real parts of the frequencies. © 1979.