A framework for solving the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating wave and Fokker–Planck equations self-consistently

Abstract The present paper sketches a framework for solving the wave and Fokker–Planck equations in the ion cyclotron resonance frequency domain fully self-consistently. It illustrates that this can be done by first constructing ‘building blocks’ that are commonly needed by the wave and Fokker–Planck equations, allowing us e.g. to account for wave coupling in plasmas containing non-Maxwellian distributions. Up to minor upgrades, the paper exploits known expressions and methods to solve the 2 intimately connected aspects of the description of the wave–particle interaction underlying ion cyclotron resonance heating. Two cases are presented: the case where the guiding centre motion is limited to just following magnetic field lines, and the extended case accounting for drifts away from magnetic surfaces but assuming axisymmetry. A limited set of analytical results is included. As combining wave and Fokker–Planck solutions is the focus, the computation of the dielectric response for arbitrary distribution functions is illustrated as well.