Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2609.33677

Implicit-Explicit time integration scheme with Physics-based preconditioning for two-fluid tokamak boundary simulations

Micol Bassanini·Simone Deparis·Paolo Ricci·Brenno De Lucca·Davide Mancini·Louis Stenger·Sergio García Herreros
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

In this work, a globally stiffly accurate Implicit-Explicit (IMEX) Runge-Kutta scheme is developed and implemented in the GBS code [Ricci et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, 2012], for two-fluid plasma turbulence simulations. The stiffest phenomena, governed by shear Alfvén waves and parallel diffusion, are treated implicitly, while the remaining non-stiff terms are advanced explicitly. This splitting enables time steps well beyond the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy limit, without incurring the full computational cost of a globally implicit formulation. To efficiently solve the implicit subsystem at each time step, a three-dimensional physics-based preconditioner, inspired by techniques developed in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) context, is used. The resulting framework is verified through the method of manufactured solutions and exhibits both algorithmic and parallel scalability. Significant advantages in numerical stability and computational efficiency are demonstrated with respect to an adaptive explicit Runge-Kutta scheme.

Explore related subjects

physics.plasm-phcs.NAmath.NA

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Micol Bassanini, Simone Deparis, Paolo Ricci, Brenno De Lucca, Davide Mancini, Louis Stenger, Sergio García Herreros. 2026-09-27. Implicit-Explicit time integration scheme with Physics-based preconditioning for two-fluid tokamak boundary simulations. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.33677

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Fully-implicit Particle-in-Cell model of a Magnetic Nozzle with electromagnetic power deposition

A fraction of the electromagnetic power used to generate and heat the plasma in helicon sources and electrodeless plasma thrusters can leak into the outer expansion region, interacting with the plasma in the magnetic nozzle and affecting the performance of the device. This work analyzes the properties of the plasma in a convergent-divergent magnetic nozzle when right-hand polarized waves of varying amplitude propagate into it. This is accomplished with a 1D3V fully-implicit, Vlasov-Darwin particle-in-cell model of the collisionless ion and electron plasma in a magnetic tube. The code exactly conserves charge locally and energy globally. It features a nonuniform grid and an enhanced substepping routine for the macroparticle trajectories. The requirement that the expansion be current-free is satisfied thanks to linear closed-loop controllers on the injection and downstream boundary conditions. Wave heating increases the electron perpendicular temperature, especially in the vicinity of an electron cyclotron resonance surface, always present inside the magnetic nozzle of a helicon device. The energized electrons become anisotropic, and drive a more pronounced potential drop and a higher ion acceleration than in the absence of waves, at the expense of the wave power. The computed moments of the ion and electron distributions reveal the dominant balance of the electron thermal terms, electrostatic terms, and ion inertial terms in the momentum and energy equations. Wave heating helps populate otherwise-inaccessible regions of the electron phase space and modifies the doubly-trapped electron population found in the purely electrostatic case. The overall efficiency of the magnetic nozzle increases mildly at low wave power, but drops quickly as it is increased beyond a threshold, as part of the energy is wasted...

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2026

Analytic toroidal 3D MHD equilibria and steady Euler flows with invariant surfaces

Families of explicit analytic solutions of the magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium equations are presented, equivalent to steady incompressible Euler flow. The solutions are non-axisymmetric and possess exact nested toroidal flux surfaces. No expansion is made in inverse aspect ratio or in the deviation from axisymmetry. The magnetic field and flux surfaces are given explicitly in Cartesian coordinates using elementary functions. The field, current density, and scalar pressure are smooth over the toroidal domain. The pressure gradient vanishes only on the magnetic axis. One family of solutions has uniform rotational transform $ι=2$, while another family has a sheared $ι$ profile. These counterexamples to Grad's conjecture are valuable for understanding the existence and regularity of 3D equilibria and for testing numerical codes.

physics.plasm-ph↗
arXiv2026

Observer-Based Model Predictive Control for Isoflux Regulation in the EXL-50U Spherical Tokamak

Isoflux control in spherical tokamaks requires coordinated plasma-current and boundary regulation under coil-voltage and computational constraints. This study develops observer-based constrained model predictive control (MPC) for EXL-50U. Vacuum-vessel spatial coarsening reduces a 538-state linearized model to 40 states while retaining control-relevant responses. A Kalman observer provides full-state estimates, and MPC jointly optimizes current and boundary-flux tracking with explicit voltage bounds. Matrix precomputation, specialized solver code generation, and structured linear-system solution reduce online computation. Nonlinear free-boundary Grad--Shafranov evolutive simulations evaluate nominal operation, measurement noise, configuration mismatch, a one-step delay, and combined noise and delay against proportional--integral--derivative (PID) control and a linear--quadratic regulator (LQR). Nominal MPC root-mean-square errors are 1.126 kA for plasma current, 0.0164 m for last-closed-flux-surface geometry, and 2.463 mWb for the worst flux channel, all below both baselines. With noise, the boundary error is 0.0199 m over the common evaluation window, and regulation is sustained throughout the test. MPC completes a limiter-to-divertor transition without relinearization or retuning and maintains regulation under delay and combined disturbances. Across all five cases, mean MPC computation times are 0.413--0.441 ms, with all 99th percentiles below 1 ms. These results support joint current and isoflux regulation and millisecond-scale computational feasibility, providing a basis for future EXL-50U experiments.

physics.plasm-ph↗