Kinetic approach to microscopic-macroscopic coupling in space and laboratory plasmas

Abstract

Kinetic plasma simulation typically requires to handle a multiplicity of space and time scales. The implicit moment particle in cell (PIC) method provides a possible route to address the presence of multiple scales effectively. Here, a new implementation of the implicit moment method is described. The present paper has two goals. First, the most modern implementation of the implicit moment method is described. While many of the algorithms involved have been developed in the past, the present paper reports for the first time how the implicit moment method is currently implemented and what specific algorithms have been found to work best. Second, we present the CELESTE3D code, a fully electromagnetic and fully kinetic PIC code, based on the implicit moment method. The code has been in use for a number of years but no previous complete description of its implementation has been provided. The present work fills this gap and introduces a number of new methods not previously presented: a new implementation of the Maxwell solver and a new particle mover based on a Newton-Krylov nonlinear solver for the discretized Newton's equations. A number of benchmarks of CELESTE3D are presented to shown the typical application and to investigate the improvements introduced by the new solver and the new mover. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.