BO-PBK: A comprehensive solver for dispersion relations of obliquely propagating waves in magnetized multi-species plasma with anisotropic loss-cone drift product-bi-kappa distribution

TL;DR

BO-PBK is a new, efficient solver that accurately computes dispersion relations and instabilities of oblique waves in complex magnetized plasma distributions, advancing plasma wave analysis tools.

Contribution

It introduces a unified, rational eigenvalue formulation supporting diverse plasma velocity distributions with reduced computational complexity.

Findings

Accurately reproduces standard kinetic results.

Achieves 2-3 times faster computation than previous methods.

Effectively resolves wave modes and instabilities in complex plasma models.

Abstract

We present BO-PBK (BO-Product-Bi-Kappa), a new solver for kinetic dispersion relations of obliquely propagating waves in magnetized plasmas with complex velocity distributions. It reformulates the linearized Vlasov-Maxwell system into a compact eigenvalue problem, enabling direct computation of multiple wave branches and unstable modes without iterative initial-value searches. Key innovations include a unified framework supporting product-bi-kappa, kappa-Maxwellian, bi-Maxwellian, and hybrid distributions with multi-component and loss-cone features; a concise rational-form eigenvalue formulation; and a 2--3 times reduction in matrix dimensions compared to the BO-KM solver, with improved efficiency at larger kappa indices. Benchmark tests confirm accurate reproduction of standard kinetic results and efficient resolution of waves and instabilities. BO-PBK thus provides a computationally efficient tool for wave and stability analysis in space and laboratory plasmas.