Abstract: This presentation will discuss the kinetics of Coulomb collisions in plasmas, as described by the Landau-Fokker-Planck equation, and its numerical solution using a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Acceleration of this method is achieved by coupling the particle method to a continuum fluid description. Efficiency of the resulting hybrid method is greatly increased by inclusion of particles with negative weights. This complicates the simulation, and introduces difficulties have plagued earlier efforts to use negatively weighted particles. This talk will describe significant progress that has been made in overcoming those difficulties.

The talk will be followed by reception in the Huxley Common Room (549)