Kinetic theory for fluctuations and noise in computer simulation of plasma

An accurate theory of fluctuations and noise in computer simulation of plasma is developed. The analytic method describes the space and time discretization exactly and the results reduce simply and correctly to the standard results of plasma kinetic theory in the limit of small space and time step. If the particles are imagined to be a Monte-Carlo sampling of the phase space, then the fluctuations in this sampling, as modified by collective effects, are a concern of this paper. This theory is of interest in theoretical and empirical studies to understand the character of representation by simulation methods of plasma processes such as transport.