Computer Simulation in Low‐Temperature Plasma Physics: Future Challenges

Abstract

Computer simulations can be carried out with various aims. Perhaps the most challenging is prediction under conditions where experiments are difficult or inaccessible, especially when failure to predict adequately may have unhappy consequences. There is, probably, not much confidence at present in the capability of low‐temperature plasma physics simulations in such a context. Other fields have attempted to meet this challenge using a collection of techniques collectively known as “Verification and Validation,” or “V&V.” These are methods for enhancing confidence in the correctness and fidelity of computer simulations. This paper surveys these techniques and discusses their application to improvements of simulation capability in low‐temperature plasma physics.