Accession Number:
ADA070476
Title:
Plasma Multistreaming and the Viability of Fluid Codes,
Descriptive Note:
Corporate Author:
MARYLAND UNIV COLLEGE PARK DEPT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
1976-01-01
Pagination or Media Count:
34.0
Abstract:
For plasmas in the collisionless regime, the absence of bulk viscosity permits multistreaming if this occurs, fluid codes, which by definition prohibit multistreaming, give unphysical results. We show that a fluid code, using an energy propagation equation, will conserve energy but nevertheless can give totally incorrect results if multistreaming occurs. If a temperature propagation equation is used instead, the system continuously loses energy when multistreaming occurs. This energy nonconservation, which is completely independent of cell size and time step, can be used as an internal test for multistreaming, requiring no data outside the fluid code itself. Author
Descriptors:
Subject Categories:
- Plasma Physics and Magnetohydrodynamics