Complexity reduction of collisional-radiative kinetics for atomic plasma

作者：Le Hai P; Karagozian Ann R; Cambier Jean Luc^*

来源：Physics of Plasmas, 2013, 20(12): 123304.

DOI：10.1063/1.4849417

Thermal non-equilibrium processes in partially ionized plasmas can be most accurately modeled by collisional-radiative kinetics. This level of detail is required for an accurate prediction of the plasma. However, the resultant system of equations can be prohibitively large, making multidimensional and unsteady simulations of non-equilibrium radiating plasma particularly challenging. In this paper, we present a scheme for model reduction of the collisional-radiative kinetics, by combining energy levels into groups and deriving the corresponding macroscopic rates for all transitions. Although level-grouping is a standard approach to this type of problem, we provide here a mechanism for achieving higher-order accuracy by accounting for the level distribution within a group. The accuracy and benefits of the scheme are demonstrated for the generic case of atomic hydrogen by comparison with the complete solution of the master rate equations and other methods.

• 出版日期2013-12