General introduction to the modelling of real plasmas. I

Results obtained using the above simulation techniques have been very successful in describing the initial stages of plasma development. Further work is needed to improve the accuracy and stability of the integration techniques and Yousfi (1994), for example, has recently described how to apply finite element methods to the solution of the continuity equations. Although only applied to the one-dimensional case the authors point out that the technique is capable of being extended to higher dimensions. In the later stages of the growth other, for example thermal, processes become increasingly important and these additional effects should be incorporated into the models. In addition better account must be taken of the influence of the external circuit parameters. Hybrid techniques combining Monte-Carlo and fluid models show a great deal of promise although they make great demands on computer time. Even with the enormous increase in computing power that has become available during the last few years, a purely Lagrangian Monte-Carlo calculation is still not feasible but the development of multi-processor systems may change the situation in the fairly near future