THE PHYSICS OF BOUNDED PLASMA SYSTEMS (BPSS) - SIMULATION AND INTERPRETATION

The dynamical behavior of a bounded plasma system (BPS) is, by definit ion, characterized by the simultaneous and self-consistent interaction of the plasma itself, its material boundaries. and whatever external circuit(s) there may be. A full theoretical description of these syste ms. which are of relevance in a variety of fields (e.g., plasma techno logy), must involve (microscopic or macroscopic) evolution equations f or the plasma, Maxwell's equations for the fields, boundary conditions for the plasma and the fields, and the external-circuit equation(s). By ''BPS simulation'' we mean obtaining theoretical (including numeric al) results from models accounting, at least conceptually. for all the basic features mentioned above. This paper is exclusively concerned w ith microscopic (i.e., kinetic and particle) BPS simulation. A very ge neral system of basic equations for kinetic BPS simulation is proposed . With the PD (''plasma device'') codes from U.C. Berkeley [BIRDSALL, C. K., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 19 (1991) 651, particle simulations of (1d, 3v) BPS's can now be routinely performed by everybody. Particular emphasis is laid on an alternative method called ''trajectory simulat ion'', which has shown great potential for kinetic BPS simulation with high accuracy and resolution. From the point of view of nonlinear dyn amics, BPS's are rather complex dissipative systems exhibiting, in par ticular, regular and chaotic attractor states. For their proper interp retation, an advisable (if not indispensable) first step is to careful ly study relatively simple, but still representative ''archetypal'' BP S's, such as the Pierce diode [GODFREY, B. B., Phys. Fluids 30 (1987) 15531 and the single-emitter plasma diode or ''KDSI'' [CRYSTAL, T. L., et al., Phys. Fluids B 3 (1991) 244]. These systems and representativ e results obtained therewith are surveyed, and both recent development s and future perspectives of BPS physics are addressed.