A filtered Boris algorithm for charged-particle dynamics in a strong magnetic field

Abstract

A modification of the standard Boris algorithm, called filtered Boris algorithm, is proposed for the numerical integration of the equations of motion of charged particles in a strong non-uniform magnetic field in the asymptotic scaling known as maximal ordering. With an appropriate choice of filters, second-order error bounds in the position and in the parallel velocity, and first-order error bounds in the normal velocity are obtained with respect to the scaling parameter. This also yields a second-order approximation to the guiding center motion. The proof compares the modulated Fourier expansions of the exact and the numerical solutions. Numerical experiments illustrate the error behaviour of the filtered Boris algorithm.