Three-dimensional deformable-grid electromagnetic particle-in-cell for parallel computers

Citation
J. Wang et al., Three-dimensional deformable-grid electromagnetic particle-in-cell for parallel computers, J PLASMA PH, 61, 1999, pp. 367-389
Citations number
12
Categorie Soggetti
Physics
Journal title
JOURNAL OF PLASMA PHYSICS
ISSN journal
00223778 → ACNP
Volume
61
Year of publication
1999
Part
3
Pages
367 - 389
Database
ISI
SICI code
0022-3778(199904)61:<367:TDEPFP>2.0.ZU;2-#
Abstract
We describe a new parallel, non-orthogonal-grid, three-dimensional electrom agnetic particle-in-cell (EMPIC) code based on a finite-volume formulation. This code uses a logically Cartesian grid of deformable hexahedral cells, a discrete surface integral (DSI) algorithm to calculate the electromagneti c field, and a hybrid logical-physical space algorithm to push particles. W e investigate the numerical instability of the DSI algorithm for non-orthog onal grids, analyse the accuracy for EMPIC simulations on non-orthogonal gr ids, and present performance benchmarks of this code on a pal allel superco mputer. While the hybrid particle push algorithm has a second-order accurac y in space, the accuracy of the DSI field solve algorithm is between first and second order for non-orthogonal grids. The parallel implementation of t his code, which is almost identical to that of a Cartesian-grid EMPIC code using domain decomposition, achieved a high parallel efficiency of over 96% for large-scale simulations.