Full particle-in-cell simulation of the formation and structure of a collisional plasma shock wave

Wen-shuai Zhang, Hong-bo Cai, Bao Du, Dong-guo Kang, Shi-yang Zou, and Shao-ping Zhu
Phys. Rev. E 103, 023213 – Published 24 February 2021

Abstract

The formation and structure of a collisional shock wave in a fully ionized plasma is studied via full particle-in-cell simulations, which allows the complex momentum and energy transfer processes between different charged particles to be treated self-consistently. The kinetic energy of the plasma flow drifting towards a reflecting piston is found to be rapidly converted into thermal motion under the cooperative effects of ion-ion collisions, ion-electron collisions, and electric field charged-particle interactions. The subsequent shock evolution is influenced by the “precursor” ion beam before a quasisteady state is reached. The shock wave structure is then analyzed from a two-fluid transport viewpoint, which is found to be affected by “flux-limiting” electron transport, the nonthermal ions, and the charge separation electric field.

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  • Received 3 December 2020
  • Accepted 3 February 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.023213

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Plasma Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Wen-shuai Zhang, Hong-bo Cai*, Bao Du, Dong-guo Kang, Shi-yang Zou, and Shao-ping Zhu

  • Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100094, China

  • *cai_hongbo@iapcm.ac.cn
  • zsp@iapcm.ac.cn

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Vol. 103, Iss. 2 — February 2021

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