The relativistic implicit Particle-in-Cell method. (May 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bacchini, Fabio; Amaya, Jorge; Lapenta, Giovanni
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 1225(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-05
• Subjects: Physics -- Congresses; 530.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1225/1/012011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-6588

Abstract

Abstract: Relativistic Particle-in-Cell (PiC) methods are among the most reliable methods for the investigation of plasma phenomena at the particle scale. Standard explicit and semi-implicit PiC methods are affected by numerical instabilities that restrain the range of admissible simulation parameters, and prevent their application to large domains over long time scales. Here, we present a three-dimensional, fully-implicit algorithm for relativistic PiC simulations that conserves energy exactly (to machine precision) and eliminates numerical instabilities, allowing long-term calculations. We describe the full numerical solution procedure and test the algorithm with several one-and two-dimensional case-studies of kinetic instabilities, comparing the results with theoretical predictions.