Maximal energy extraction under discrete diffusive exchange

TL;DR

This paper investigates the maximum energy that can be extracted from plasma waves through diffusive rearrangements of plasma states, using linear programming to identify the optimal energy transfer.

Contribution

It introduces a linear programming approach to determine the maximal energy extraction from plasma states under diffusive rearrangements, connecting plasma physics with optimization methods.

Findings

Maximal energy extraction can be formulated as a linear programming problem.

The set of reachable plasma states under diffusive rearrangements is characterized.

Optimal energy transfer strategies are identified through the proposed method.

Abstract

Waves propagating through a bounded plasma can rearrange the densities of states in the six-dimensional velocity-configuration phase space. Depending on the rearrangement, the wave energy can either increase or decrease, with the difference taken up by the total plasma energy. In the case where the rearrangement is diffusive, only certain plasma states can be reached. It turns out that the set of reachable states through such diffusive rearrangements has been described in very different contexts. Building upon those descriptions, and making use of the fact that the plasma energy is a linear functional of the state densities, the maximal extractable energy under diffusive rearrangement can then be addressed through linear programming.