PCell: a 2D program for visualizing convective plasma cells

The magnetic field intensity of most celestial bodies and regions of the universe are known; they range from 10^-9 G in the intergalactic plasma to 10¹² G at the surface of neutron stars. The approach most researchers use to understand this dynamo mechanism is to consider a cosmic plasma with a stationary motion, which leads to an induction problem where the goal is to find stationary states as solutions of the induction equation. This kind of equation is easily solved via a computer. By choosing convective velocity fields, we can simulate convection cells, which in turn help us understand the behavior of the photosphere, the chromosphere, the Sun´s convective zone, and laboratory plasmas. We can also investigate the not-well-understood phenomena of reconnection in this way. The PCell program helps visualize the magnetic field´s evolution in different convective plasmas. We wrote the program in C (part of the program was translated from Fortran to C); it runs on Linux or Unix.