Simulating the injection of magnetized plasma without electromagnetic precursor wave

Abstract

This note aims to explain how to inject magnetized plasma through an open boundary into the simulation domain of a particle-in-cell simulation. If the magnetic field at the boundary is constant in time, i.e., if magnetized plasma of constant magnetization is injected at a steady rate, this does not present any challenges beyond injecting the particles at a fixed rate and possibly absorbing plasma waves impinging on the wall. If, however, the magnetization or the injection rate changes, a time-varying magnetic field is present. The classical use case for this scenario is a shock front moving through a plasma into the simulation volume