Collisional gyrokinetic full‐f particle‐in‐cell simulations on open field lines with PICLS

Applying gyrokinetic simulations in theoretical turbulence and transport studies for the plasma edge and scrape‐off layer (SOL) presents significant challenges. To particularly account for steep density and temperature gradients in the SOL, the “full‐f” code PICLS was developed. PICLS is a gyrokinetic particle‐in‐cell (PIC) code, is based on an electrostatic model with a linearized field equation, and uses kinetic electrons. In previously published results, we applied PICLS to the well‐studied 1D parallel transport problem during an edge‐localized mode (ELM) in the SOL without collisions. As an extension to this collision‐less case and in preparation for 3D simulations, in this work, a collisional model will be introduced. The implemented Lenard–Bernstein collision operator and its Langevin discretization will be shown. Conservation properties of the collision operator, as well as a comparison of the collisional and non‐collisional case, will be discussed.