English

Fast inverse transform sampling of non-Gaussian distribution functions in space plasmas

Plasma Physics 2022-04-29 v2 Computational Physics Space Physics

Abstract

Non-Gaussian distributions are commonly observed in collisionless space plasmas. Generating samples from non-Gaussian distributions is critical for the initialization of particle-in-cell simulations that investigate their driven and undriven dynamics. To this end, we report a computationally efficient, robust tool, Chebsampling, to sample general distribution functions in one and two dimensions. This tool is based on inverse transform sampling with function approximation by Chebyshev polynomials. We demonstrate practical uses of Chebsampling through sampling typical distribution functions in space plasmas.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2202.08203,
  title  = {Fast inverse transform sampling of non-Gaussian distribution functions in space plasmas},
  author = {Xin An and Anton Artemyev and Vassilis Angelopoulos and San Lu and Philip Pritchett and Viktor Decyk},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.08203},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

15 pages, 4 figures