Project Grant 2206302

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), provides $134,481 to Saint Michael's College for theoretical development of reduced plasma kinetic models that allow simultaneous treatment of charged particles and electromagnetic fields. The award supports derivation of new theoretical structures for reduced plasma models, including gyrokinetic plasma models, that preserve exact conservation properties and enable particle-field treatment. This will facilitate development of structure-preserving computational algorithms for studying complex magnetized plasma dynamics over longer timescales under realistic conditions. Key outcomes include Hamiltonian and dissipative bracket structures for gyrokinetic plasma equations, addressing unique challenges in theoretical physics. Formulating gyrokinetic models in terms of fields rather than potentials will open new areas of space and astrophysical plasma research. The dissipative bracket structure of the gyrokinetic Landau collision operator will ensure exact conservation properties crucial for investigating synergies between collisionless and collisional plasma evolutions over long periods. This work provides powerful theoretical and computational tools advancing non-linear turbulent modeling of laboratory, space and astrophysical magnetized plasmas.