Gyrocenter-gauge kinetic theory is developed as an extension of the existin
g gyrokinetic theories. In essence, the formalism introduced here is a kine
tic description of magnetized plasmas in the gyrocenter coordinates which i
s fully equivalent to the Vlasov-Maxwell system in the particle coordinates
. In particular, provided the gyroradius is smaller than the scale-length o
f the magnetic field, it can treat high-frequency range as well as the usua
l low-frequency range normally associated with gyrokinetic approaches. A si
gnificant advantage of this formalism is that it enables the direct particl
e-in-cell simulations of compressional Alfven waves for magnetohydrodynamic
(MHD) applications and of rf (radio frequency) waves relevant to plasma he
ating in space and laboratory plasmas. The gyrocenter-gauge kinetic suscept
ibility for arbitrary wavelength and arbitrary frequency electromagnetic pe
rturbations in a homogeneous magnetized plasma is shown to recover exactly
the classical result obtained by integrating the Vlasov-Maxwell system in t
he particle coordinates. This demonstrates that all the waves supported by
the Vlasov-Maxwell system can be studied using the gyrocenter-gauge kinetic
model in the gyrocenter coordinates. This theoretical approach is so named
to distinguish it from the existing gyrokinetic theory, which has been suc
cessfully developed and applied to many important low-frequency and long pa
rallel wavelength problems, where the conventional meaning of "gyrokinetic"
has been standardized. Besides the usual gyrokinetic distribution function
, the gyrocenter-gauge kinetic theory emphasizes as well the gyrocenter-gau
ge distribution function, which sometimes contains all the physics of the p
roblems being studied, and whose importance has not been realized previousl
y. The gyrocenter-gauge distribution function enters Maxwell's equations th
rough the pull-back transformation of the gyrocenter transformation, which
depends on the perturbed fields. The efficacy of the gyrocenter-gauge kinet
ic approach is largely due to the fact that it directly decouples particle'
s gyromotion from its gyrocenter motion in the gyrocenter coordinates. As i
n the case of kinetic theories using guiding center coordinates, obtaining
solutions for this kinetic system involves only following particles along t
heir gyrocenter orbits. However, an added advantage here is that unlike the
guiding center formalism, the gyrocenter coordinates used in this theory i
nvolves both the equilibrium and the perturbed components of the electromag
netic field. In terms of solving the kinetic system using particle simulati
on methods, the gyrocenter-gauge kinetic approach enables the reduction of
computational complexity without the loss of important physical content. (C
) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S1070-664X(00)00511-5].