Kinetic Simulation of Inhomogeneous Plasma with a Variable Sized Grid System

Space plasmas are usually inhomogeneous and irregular. Particle in cell (PIC) plasma simulations, however, often consider the plasma to be homogeneous and periodic. Here non-periodic PIC simulations with inhomogeneities in the density, temperature and background magnetic field are considered. Boundary conditions and a variable sized grid system are discussed, along with an application to a magnetospheric plasma physics problem in the auroral zone.