In this dissertation, we develop fast high order solvers for two elliptic problems in plasma physics. The first is the Grad-Shafranov equation, a nonlinear elliptic PDE that describes the magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium of three dimensional, axisymmetric plasmas. A high order solver is desirable to ensure the accurate evaluation of derivatives, required both for the computation of physical quantities and for studying perturbations near equilibrium. Using suitable scaling, we transform the problem from cylindrical coordinates to a nonlinear Poisson problem in Cartesian coordinates. We compute the conformal map from the original domain to the unit circle where we build a separation of variables based solver to obtain a high order, accurate solution. A fixed point or eigenvalue outer iteration is used to solve the nonlinear equation.

Our second problem is the computation of the Coulomb collision operator that arises in kinetic models of plasmas. The collision operator can be written in terms of two Rosenbluth potentials obtained by solving a Poisson and a biharmonic problem in the velocity variables. For these PDEs we describe a new class of fast solvers in cylindrical coordinates with free-space radiation conditions. By combining integral equation methods in the radial variable with Fourier methods in the angular and z directions, we show that high-order accuracy can be achieved in both the solution and its derivatives. A weak singularity arises in the Fourier transform with respect to z that is handled with special purpose quadratures. Such solvers are ideally suited to the Rosenbluth potentials, since the collision operator is expressed in terms of up to fourth derivatives of the potentials, placing stringent demands on the computational order. Also, since axisymmetry is generally assumed in the velocity variables, the use of cylindrical coordinates reduces the three dimensional problem to a two dimensional computation.