Numerical investigation of the physical model of a high-power electromagnetic wave in a magnetically insulated transmission line

An efficient numerical code for simulating the propagation of a high-power electromagnetic pulse in a vacuum transmission line is required to study the physical phenomena occurring in such a line, to analyze the operation of present-day megavolt generators at an ∼10-TW power level, and to design such new devices. The main physical theoretical principles are presented, and the stability of flows in the near-threshold region at the boundary of the regime of magnetic self-insulation is investigated based on one-dimensional telegraph equations with electron losses. Numerical (difference) methods—specifically, a method of characteristics and a finite-difference scheme—are described and their properties and effectiveness are compared by analyzing the high-frequency modes.