A nondissipative simulation method for the drift kinetic equation

With the aim to study the ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven turbulence, a nondissipative kinetic simulation scheme is developed and comprehensively benchmarked. The new simulation method preserving the time-reversibility of basic kinetic equations can successfully reproduce the analytical solutions of asymmetric three-mode ITG equations which are extended to provide a more general reference for benchmarking than the previous work [T.-H. Watanabe, H. Sugama, and T. Sato: Phys. Plasmas 7 (2000) 984]. It is also applied to a dissipative three-mode system, and shows a good agreement with the analytical solution. The nondissipative simulation result of the ITG turbulence accurately satisfies the entropy balance equation. Usefulness of the nondissipative method for the drift kinetic simulations is confirmed in comparisons with other dissipative schemes. (author)