Numerical Stability Improvements for the Pseudo-Spectral EM PIC Algorithm

Abstract

The pseudo-spectral analytical time-domain (PSATD) particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm solves the vacuum Maxwell's equations exactly, has no Courant time-step limit (as conventionally defined), and offers substantial flexibility in plasma and particle beam simulations. It is, however, not free of the usual numerical instabilities, including the numerical Cherenkov instability, when applied to relativistic beam simulations. This paper presents several approaches that, when combined with digital filtering, almost completely eliminate the numerical Cherenkov instability. The paper also investigates the numerical stability of the PSATD algorithm at low beam energies.

Based on presentation at the 2013 IEEE Pulsed Power and Plasma Science Conference; 8 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Numerical stability analysis of the Pseudo-Spectral Analytical Time-Domain PIC algorithm

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• Improved Numerical Cherenkov Instability Suppression in the Generalized PSTD PIC Algorithm
• Mitigation of numerical Cerenkov radiation and instability using a hybrid finite difference-FFT Maxwell solver and a local charge conserving current deposit
• Modeling of Advanced Accelerator Concepts