A stochastic kinetic scheme for multi-scale plasma transport with uncertainty quantification

TL;DR

This paper introduces a stochastic kinetic scheme for multi-scale plasma transport that incorporates uncertainties in flow and electromagnetic fields, ensuring accurate, scale-adaptive solutions across different plasma regimes.

Contribution

It develops a novel physics-oriented stochastic scheme combining Galerkin and collocation methods for multi-scale plasma systems with uncertainty quantification.

Findings

The scheme is asymptotic-preserving across multiple plasma regimes.

Validated through numerical experiments on Landau Damping, two-stream instability, and shock tube problems.

Successfully handles uncertainties in initial conditions and physical parameters.

Abstract

In this paper, a physics-oriented stochastic kinetic scheme will be developed that includes random inputs from both flow and electromagnetic fields via a hybridization of stochastic Galerkin and collocation methods. Based on the BGK-type relaxation model of the multi-component Boltzmann equation, a scale-dependent kinetic central-upwind flux function is designed in both physical and particle velocity space, and the governing equations in the discrete temporal-spatial-random domain are constructed. By solving Maxwell's equations with the wave-propagation method, the evolutions of ions, electrons and electromagnetic field are coupled throughout the simulation. We prove that the scheme is formally asymptotic-preserving in the Vlasov, magnetohydrodynamical, and neutral Euler regimes with the inclusion of random variables. Therefore, it can be used for the study of multi-scale and multi-physics plasma system under the effects of uncertainties, and provide scale-adaptive physical solutions under different ratios among numerical cell size, particle mean free path and gyroradius (or time step, local particle collision time and plasma period). Numerical experiments including one-dimensional Landau Damping, the two-stream instability and the Brio-Wu shock tube problem with one- to three-dimensional velocity settings, and each under stochastic initial conditions with one-dimensional uncertainty, will be presented to validate the scheme.