A NEW SOLUTION METHOD FOR THE GYROKINETIC FOKKER-PLANCK EQUATION

A new non-perturbative and non-variational solution method is proposed for the gyrokinetic equation, based on a suitable approximation for the linearized Fokker-Planck collision operator. The approach, which allows, in principle, the accurate evaluation of arbitrary moments of the distribution function for a weakly collisional magnetoplasma with toroidal equilibria of arbitrary aspect-ratio, is susceptible of numerous significant applications, both for transport calculations, i.e., in particular, leading to the evaluation of neoclassical fluxes, as well for the investigation of linear stability analyses of dissipative perturbations. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.