1D PIC simulation study of nonlinear beam plasma interaction

Abstract

Since the early days of plasma simulation studies, superthermal electrons having energies much greater than the injected beam electrons have been widespreadly observed. The origin of such superthermal tail in the electron velocity distribution is generally believed due to the second order Fermi acceleration, i.e. the acceleration due to turbulence. In this paper, generation of superthermal electrons is studied by using a 1D PIC simulation code.