Simulation of collisional plasmas kinetics

Summary form only given. The collective kinetic effects and Coulomb collisions are essentially important in a great variety of plasma physics problems such as laser and particle beam interaction with plasma. The problem is that the Fokker-Planck equation for the collisional plasma dynamics is extremely difficult for either analytic or direct numerical simulation. The stochastic approach to the simulation of plasma kinetics, taking account of Coulomb collisions, is discussed. The stochastic differential equations for the laser-plasma particle motion are derived and a corresponding numerical algorithm is proposed and tested. The results of simulation of laser radiation with an overdense plasma were presented by the authors previously (1997). The temperature dependence of the absorption coefficient is calculated. It is shown that a strong longitudinal electric field is generated at the plasma boundary. The generation of high frequency radiation as well as the formation of heated electrons is observed and discussed. The influence of collisions on evolution of heated electrons is considered. It is shown that the non-Maxwellian distribution function can be formed even far from the laser-plasma interface.