Geometric electrostatic particle-in-cell algorithm on unstructured meshes

Wang, Zhenyu; Qin, Hong; Sturdevant, Benjamin; Chang, C. S.

doi:10.1017/s0022377821000702

Geometric electrostatic particle-in-cell algorithm on unstructured meshes

Journal Article · Wed Jul 21 04:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Plasma Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022377821000702· OSTI ID:1814591

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Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

We present a geometric particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm on unstructured meshes for studying electrostatic perturbations with frequency lower than electron gyrofrequency in magnetized plasmas. In this method, ions are treated as fully kinetic particles and electrons are described by the adiabatic response. The PIC method is derived from a discrete variational principle on unstructured meshes. To preserve the geometric structure of the system, the discrete variational principle requires that the electric field is interpolated using Whitney 1-forms, the charge is deposited using Whitney 0-forms and the electric field is computed by discrete exterior calculus. The algorithm has been applied to study the ion Bernstein wave (IBW) in two-dimensional magnetized plasmas. The simulated dispersion relations of the IBW in a rectangular region agree well with theoretical results. In a two-dimensional circular region with fixed boundary condition, the spectrum and eigenmode structures of the IBW are obtained from simulations. We compare the energy conservation property of the geometric PIC algorithm derived from the discrete variational principle with that of previous PIC methods on unstructured meshes. The comparison shows that the new PIC algorithm significantly improves the energy conservation property.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

OSTI ID:: 1814591

Journal Information:: Journal of Plasma Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Plasma Physics Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 87; ISSN 0022-3778

Publisher:: Cambridge University PressCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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