A simple procedure for generating a Kappa distribution in PIC simulation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a straightforward rejection-sampling method using a Pareto envelope to efficiently generate Kappa distributions in particle-in-cell plasma simulations, requiring only uniform random variates.

Contribution

It presents a simple, efficient procedure for generating Kappa distributions in PIC simulations, improving upon previous methods by using a Pareto envelope and high acceptance efficiency.

Findings

Acceptance efficiency of approximately 73-80%

Method requires only uniform variates

Applicable to kinetic plasma modeling

Abstract

For kinetic modeling of plasma processes in space, a rejection-sampling procedure for generating a Kappa distribution in particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation is proposed. A Pareto distribution is employed as an envelope distribution. The procedure only requires uniform variates, and its acceptance efficiency is $\approx 0.73$--$0.8$.