Particle-in-cell (PIC) methods have a long history in the study of laser-plasma interactions. Early electromagnetic codes used the Yee staggered grid for field variables combined with a leapfrog EM-field update and the Boris algorithm for particle pushing. The general properties of such schemes are well documented. Modern PIC codes tend to add to these high-order shape functions for particles, Poisson preserving field updates, collisions, ionisation, a hybrid scheme for solid density and high-field QED effects. In addition to these physics packages, the increase in computing power now allows simulations with real mass ratios, full 3D dynamics and multi-speckle interaction. This paper presents a review of the core algorithms used in current laser-plasma specific PIC codes. Also reported are estimates of self-heating rates, convergence of collisional routines and test of ionisation models which are not readily available elsewhere. Having reviewed the status of PIC algorithms we present a summary of recent applications of such codes in laser-plasma physics, concentrating on SRS, short-pulse laser-solid interactions, fast-electron transport, and QED effects.

/pdf/contemporary-particle-in-cell-approach-to-laser-plasma-1hb69lir4e.pdf

Contemporary particle-in-cell approach to laser-plasma modelling

An overview is given of the physics issues relevant to the plasma wakefield accelerator, the plasma beat-wave accelerator, the laser wakefield accelerator, including the self-modulated regime, and wakefield accelerators driven by multiple electron or laser pulses. Basic properties of linear and nonlinear plasma waves are discussed, as well as the trapping and acceleration of electrons in the plasma wave. Formulas are presented for the accelerating field and the energy gain in the various accelerator configurations. The propagation of the drive electron or laser beams is discussed, including limitations imposed by key instabilities and methods for optically guiding laser pulses. Recent experimental results are summarized.

Overview of plasma-based accelerator concepts

A laboratory observation of the dust‐acoustic instability is reported. The results are compared with available theories.

http://www2.physics.uiowa.edu/~rmerlino/daw1.pdf

Laboratory observation of the dust-acoustic wave mode

Many-particle charged-particle plasma simulations using spatial meshes for the electromagnetic field solutions, particle-in-cell (PIC) merged with Monte Carlo collision (MCC) calculations, are coming into wide use for application to partially ionized gases. The author emphasizes the development of PIC computer experiments since the 1950s starting with one-dimensional (1-D) charged-sheet models, the addition of the mesh, and fast direct Poisson equation solvers for 2-D and 3-D. Details are provided for adding the collisions between the charged particles and neutral atoms. The result is many-particle simulations with many of the features met in low-temperature collision plasmas; for example, with applications to plasma-assisted materials processing, but also related to warmer plasmas at the edges of magnetized fusion plasmas. >

Particle-in-Cell Charged Particle Simulations, plus Monte Carlo Collisions with Neutral Atoms, PIC-MCC

Theoretical and experimental studies of low-frequency electrostatic waves in plasmas containing negatively charged dust grains are described. The presence of charged dust is shown to modify the properties of ion-acoustic waves and electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves through the quasineutrality condition even though the dust grains do not participate in the wave dynamics. If the dust dynamics is included in the analysis, new “dust modes” appear—dust acoustic and dust cyclotron modes. The results of laboratory experiments dealing with dust ion acoustic (DIA) waves and electrostatic dust ion cyclotron (EDIC) waves are shown. These modes are more easily excited in a plasma containing negatively charged dust. Finally, observations of dust acoustic (DA) waves are presented and measurements of the dispersion relation are compared with one obtained from fluid theory.

Laboratory studies of waves and instabilities in dusty plasmas

A Grid-Based Coulomb Collision Model for PIC Codes

The drift of plasma ions relative to charged grains in a dusty plasma can give rise to a dust/ion acoustic instability. We investigate the linear properties of the instability by numerically solving an appropriate linear dispersion equation and examine the nonlinear behavior through one-dimensional electrostatic particle simulations, in which the plasma and dust ions are treated as discrete particles and the electrons are modeled as a Boltzmann fluid. The instability saturates by trapping some of the plasma ions. The instability is slightly weaker when the dust particles have a range of sizes, and corresponding range of charges and masses. It is argued that due to dust particles that comprise planetary rings, this process can contribute to ion heating and diffusion observed in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn.

Ion heating in a dusty plasma due to the dust/ion acoustic instability

The forces on and resulting dynamics of particulate contaminants near the plasma-sheath boundary in a one-dimensional, steady-state glow discharge are examined. Various expressions for the electric force, including the effects of nonneutrality and particulate spacing on the charge state, are considered, and several different ways to compute the ion drag force are compared. The properties of the particulate traps that result from the interplay of these forces are studied. The effects of the gravitational, neutral drag, and polarization forces are also considered. Time-dependent motion of the particulates, including the effects of a temporally varying, spatially localized particulate density, is also investigated. While some uncertainties exist in the individual expressions for the various forces and in the properties of the discharge, the particulate traps are fairly well defined and consistent with experiments and other analyses. >

Particulate dynamics at the plasma-sheath boundary in DC glow discharges

The effect of the finite charging time on spherical and cylindrical particulates in an RF discharge is considered. Using probe theory, analytical expressions for the charging rate under various conditions are derived and compared with numerical solutions. Scaling of the charging time with discharge parameters, in particular the electron temperature, is demonstrated. Using a one-dimensional fluid model for an rf discharge, the equilibrium electric and ion drag forces are compared for spherical and cylindrical particulates. The effect of the finite charging time on the dynamics of particulates of various sizes in the model discharge are discussed. Overall, a long cylindrical particle with the same mass as a spherical particle charges up more slowly to a larger net (negative) charge and has a significantly larger polarization. As a consequence, small cylindrical particles introduced near the electrodes are more likely to escape from the sheath region before becoming fully charged. >

Effect of finite charging time on particulates in RF discharges

We investigate the stability of the driving electron or positron beam in the plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA). Although the beam is subject to self-focusing, filamentation, and two-stream instability, we find that all of these can be stabilized by introducing thermal energy and an axial magnetic field.

Stability of the Driving Bunch in the Plasma Wakefield Accelerator

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Michael E. Jones

Author Tools

Chat about Author