Computer simulation using particles
Computer simulation using particles
Dynamic and selective control of the number of particles in kinetic plasma simulations
Journal of Computational Physics
Plasma Physics Via Computer
Controlling the weights of simulation particles: adaptive particle management using k-d trees
Journal of Computational Physics
Hi-index | 31.45 |
In particle-based plasma simulation, when dealing with source terms such as ionization, emission from boundaries, etc., the total number of particles can grow, at times, exponentially. Problems involving the spatial expansion of dynamic plasmas can result in statistical under representation of particle distributions in critical regions. Furthermore, when considering code optimization for massively parallel operation, it is useful to maintain a uniform number of particles per cell. Accordingly, we have developed an algorithm for coalescing or fissioning particles on 2D and 3D orthogonal grids that is based on a method of Assous et al. [F. Assous, T. Pougeard Dulimbert, J. Segre, J. Comput. Phys. 187 (2003) 550]. We present the algorithm and describe in detail its application to particle-in-cell simulations of gas ionization/streamer formation and dynamic, expanding plasmas.