Simulation of the motion and heating of an irregular plasma

A physicomathematical model for plasma heating and confinement is formulated on the basis of some assumptions on the behavior of a dense plasma cloud in a magnetic field. The model allows for the ionization and heating of the plasma cloud by the surrounding deuterium plasma due to heat conduction and heating by a superthermal electron current. The expansion of a plasma cloud in an external magnetic field is studied using some simplifications in a magnetohydrodynamic approximation. Plasma heating is modeled by an external source. The basic equations include continuity, motion, energy, and magnetic-field equations. For numerical solution of the problem, we developed a finite-difference scheme of the type of a universal algorithm with splitting into physical processes and spatial directions, which allowed us to obtain separate solutions of the equations of magnetic induction and gas dynamics. Calculations of the propagation of a plasma cloud heated by a source in an external magnetic field were performed. The mechanism of the effect of the magnetic field and heat source on plasma cloud expansion is determined. The results agree qualitatively with experimental data.