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Proof-of-Concept Simulations of the Magnetic Null (MagNul) Thruster

Abstract

Plasma behavior in an externally applied magnetic field reversal is numerically explored in order to demonstrate the existence of a self-consistent drift caused by the kinetic interaction of ions with the magnetic null. Single-particle analysis of ion trajectories is performed in the magnetic topology to predict expected ion particle and momentum fluxes out of the system. A particle-in-cell (PIC) code is used to simulate the actual fluxes out of the system for a set of magnetic field strengths from 0 to 800 G. The results of the simulations upheld the concept’s presumed ability to accelerate plasma in a desired direction and demonstrated that single-particle analysis does not predict the exact particle and momentum fluxes out of the system but does predict the optimum magnetic field for our limited parameter space