Study of conservation and recurrence of Runge---Kutta discontinuous Galerkin schemes for Vlasov---Poisson systems

  • Authors:

  • Yingda Cheng;Irene M. Gamba;Philip J. Morrison

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Mathematics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA 48824;Department of Mathematics and ICES, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA 78712;Department of Physics and Institute for Fusion Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA 78712

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Scientific Computing
  • Year:
  • 2013

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Abstract

In this paper we consider Runge---Kutta discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG) schemes for Vlasov---Poisson systems that model collisionless plasmas. One-dimensional systems are emphasized. The RKDG method, originally devised to solve conservation laws, is seen to have excellent conservation properties, be readily designed for arbitrary order of accuracy, and capable of being used with a positivity-preserving limiter that guarantees positivity of the distribution functions. The RKDG solver for the Vlasov equation is the main focus, while the electric field is obtained through the classical representation by Green's function for the Poisson equation. A rigorous study of recurrence of the DG methods is presented by Fourier analysis, and the impact of different polynomial spaces and the positivity-preserving limiters on the quality of the solutions is ascertained. Several benchmark test problems, such as Landau damping, the two-stream instability, and the Kinetic Electro static Electron Nonlinear wave, are given.