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Hybrid Simulation Codes: Past, Present and Future—A Tutorial

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Space Plasma Simulation

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Physics ((LNP,volume 615))

Abstract

Hybrid codes, in which the ions are treated kinetically and the electrons are assumed to be a massless fluid, have been widely used in space physics over the past two decades. These codes are used to model phenomena on ion inertial and gyro-radius scales, which fall between longer scales obtained by magnetohydrodynamic simulations and shorter scales attainable by full particle simulations. In this tutorial, the assumptions and equations of the hybrid model are described along with some most commonly used numerical implementations. Modifications to include finite electron mass are also briefly discussed. Examples of results of two-dimensional hybrid simulations are used to illustrate the method, to indicate some of the tradeoffs that need to be addressed in a realistic calculation, and to demonstrate the utility of the technique for problems of contemporary interest. Some speculation about the future direction of space physics research using hybrid codes is also provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Physics Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87545, Los Alamos, NM, USA

    Dan Winske & Lin Yin

  2. Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of California San Diego, 92093, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Nick Omidi, Homa Karimabadi & Kevin Quest

  3. California Space Institute, University of California San Diego, 92093, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Nick Omidi

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  1. Dan Winske
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  2. Lin Yin
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  3. Nick Omidi
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  4. Homa Karimabadi
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  5. Kevin Quest
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Plack-Institut für Aeronomie, Max-Planck Str.2, 37191, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

    Jörg Büchner

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Postfach 1312, 85741, Garching, Germany

    Manfred Scholer  & Christian T. Dum  & 

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Winske, D., Yin, L., Omidi, N., Karimabadi, H., Quest, K. (2003). Hybrid Simulation Codes: Past, Present and Future—A Tutorial. In: Büchner, J., Scholer, M., Dum, C.T. (eds) Space Plasma Simulation. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 615. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-36530-3_8

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