A radiation transport coupled particle-in-cell simulation. I. Description of the model

A one-dimensional radiation transport model is coupled with a particle-in-cell simulation in order to incorporate the resonance trapping effect of photons and the kinetic effect of plasma in fluorescent-lamp-like discharges. Electrons and ions are treated with the conventional particle-in-cell method, and neutral species such as ground, radiative, and metastable state atoms are treated with a fluid model combined with the Holstein–Biberman equation. Also included are the atomic collisions among neutral species and the effect of nonuniform ground state density on photon transport. The general scheme of the model and the numerical methods for Doppler and pressure line broadenings are described in a one-dimensional planar model for the nonuniform ground-state density.