Numerical Modeling of the Thermal Force for the Kinetic Test‐Ion Transport Simulation Based on the Fokker‐Planck Collision Operator

We present an extended numerical model of the thermal force based on the Fokker‐Planck collision method. Our model is designed for the use of the test particle transport simulation in a fluid‐like magnetized background plasma. By a series of systematic test simulations performed in this study, we have confirmed that our model is able to correctly simulate the thermal force which is caused not only by parallel, but also by perpendicular temperature gradient with respect to the direction of magnetic field. Effective length of collision time step for numerical calculations has also been investigated. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)