Global wave solutions with self-consistent velocity distributions are calculated for ion cyclotron heating in non-Maxwellian plasmas. The all-orders spectral algorithm (AORSA) global wave solver is generalized to treat non-thermal velocity distributions arising from fusion reactions, neutral beam injection and wave driven diffusion in velocity space. Quasi-linear diffusion coefficients are derived directly from the wave electric field and used to calculate ion velocity distribution functions with the CQL3D Fokker–Planck code. Alternatively, the quasi-linear coefficients can be calculated numerically by integrating the Lorentz force equations along particle orbits. Self-consistency between the wave electric field and resonant ion distribution function is achieved by iterating between the global-wave and Fokker–Planck solutions.
Velocity diffusion in plasma waves excited by electron beams