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Published April 2024
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Verification of a Monte Carlo binary collision model for simulating elastic and inelastic collisions in particle-in-cell simulations
Abstract
We present the development and verification of a Monte Carlo binary collision model for simulating elastic and inelastic collisions in particle-in-cell simulations. We apply the corrected binary collision model originally developed for charged-particles collisions to all considered scattering channels, including Coulomb collisions, elastic neutral–neutral and charged–neutral collisions, ionization, excitation, and fusion. The model's implementation is described and verified through a series of simulations, including charged- and neutral-particle thermal equilibration, slowing of electrons in warm solid-density aluminum, collisional damping of a Langmuir wave, helium gas breakdown in an applied electric field, and thermonuclear and beam–target fusion. Then, we demonstrate the model within simulations of hydrogen plasma formation in the Princeton Field-Reversed Configuration as well as of the burning of aneutronic fusion fuel p-11B. The latter includes measurement of the fusion power density in a low-density plasma and fusion production due to the stopping of a proton ignitor beam in a compressed boron target.
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Acknowledgement
MJL thanks D. P. Higginson, S. Cohen, S. Punjabi, S. Thomas, E. S. Evans, and C. Galea for helpful discussions.
This material is based upon work supported by the US DOE ARPA-E under Award No. DE-AR0001272, US DOE Office of Fusion Energy Science (OFES) INFUSE program under Award No. DE-SC0024460, US DOE OFES under Award No. DE-SC0017951, and US DOE NNSA University of Rochester “National Inertial Confinement Program” under Award No. DE-NA0004144. This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the US Government. Neither the US Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the US Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the US Government or any agency thereof.
Contributions
M. J. Lavell: Conceptualization (lead); Formal analysis (lead); Software (lead); Writing—original draft (lead). A. J. Kish: Software (equal); Writing—review & editing (supporting). A. T. Sexton: Software (equal); Writing—review & editing (supporting). R. L. Masti: Software (supporting). I. Mohammad: Writing—review & editing (supporting). M. J. Kim: Writing—review & editing (supporting). A. Srinivasan: Formal analysis (supporting). K. Jarvis: Formal analysis (supporting). W. Scullin: Software (supporting). J. G. Shaw: Software (equal). A. B. Sefkow: Conceptualization (equal); Project administration (lead); Supervision (lead); Writing—review & editing (supporting).
Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Conflict of Interest
The authors have no conflicts to disclose.
Files
043902_1_5.0190352.pdf
Additional details
Identifiers
- ISSN
- 1089-7674
Funding
- Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy
- DE-AR0001272
- United States Department of Energy
- DE-SC0024460
- United States Department of Energy
- DE-SC0017951
- National Nuclear Security Administration
- DE-NA0004144