Modeling of relativistic plasmas with the Particle-In-Cell method

Jean-Luc Vay; Brendan B. Godfrey

doi:10.1016/j.crme.2014.07.006

Theoretical and numerical approaches for Vlasov–Maxwell equations

Modeling of relativistic plasmas with the Particle-In-Cell method

Jean-Luc Vay ¹ ; Brendan B. Godfrey ^1,²

¹ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
² University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

Comptes Rendus. Mécanique, Theoretical and numerical approaches for Vlasov-maxwell equations, Volume 342 (2014) no. 10-11, pp. 610-618.

Abstract

Standard methods employed in relativistic electromagnetic Particle-In-Cell codes are reviewed, as well as novel techniques that were introduced recently. Advances in the analysis and mitigation of the numerical Cherenkov instability are also presented with comparison between analytical theory and numerical experiments. The algorithmic and numerical analytic advances are expanding the range of applicability of the method in the ultra-relativistic regime in particular, where the numerical Cherenkov instability is the strongest without corrective measures.

Received: 2014-04-25
Accepted: 2014-06-10
Published online: 2014-08-05

DOI: 10.1016/j.crme.2014.07.006

Mots-clés : Particle-In-Cell, Plasma simulation, Special relativity, Numerical instability

Author's affiliations:

Jean-Luc Vay ¹; Brendan B. Godfrey ^{1, 2}

¹ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
² University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

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Jean-Luc Vay; Brendan B. Godfrey. Modeling of relativistic plasmas with the Particle-In-Cell method. Comptes Rendus. Mécanique, Theoretical and numerical approaches for Vlasov-maxwell equations, Volume 342 (2014) no. 10-11, pp. 610-618. doi : 10.1016/j.crme.2014.07.006. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/mecanique/articles/10.1016/j.crme.2014.07.006/

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