A new scheme to treat the numerical Tcherenkov instability for electromagnetic particle simulations (Q1377899)

The authors consider the Vlasov-Maxwell problem. They develop a finite element approximation and suggest that instabilities in the solution may be reduced by introduction of a parameter in an explicit time-stepping method. The method is illustrated by applying it to waves in a fluid plasma and it is shown that the Tcherenkov instability can be reduced by the process. Diagrams are given showing the effectiveness of the method in a number of cases.