An adiabatic electron fluid particle-in-cell method for simulating ion-driven parametric instabilities

Summary form only given, as follows. A hybrid particle-in-cell method is presented in which the electrons are modeled as an adiabatic fluid with an arbitrary ratio of specific heats /spl gamma/. The electromagnetic field model is based on a temporal WKB approximation which results in a Schrodinger equation for the field envelope. The method is a new tool for simulating ion-driven parametric instabilities which often exist in laser-produced plasmas. The method is general, and does not depend on the number of spatial dimensions. The method will model the plasma behavior correctly even in situations where the electron Debye shielding is not negligible . (For the current inertial confinement fusion regime of interest, k/spl lambda//sub De/=O(1), i.e., the Debye shielding effect is significant.) Test simulations of ion Landau damping and of stimulated Brillouin scattering in both one and two dimensions are performed, and the results are in excellent agreement with linear Vlasov theory.