Application of a parallel two-dimensional particle-in-cell code

Summary form only given. ICEPIC (Improved Concurrent Electromagnetic Particle-In-Cell), developed by the Air Force Research Lab, is a 3-D Particle-In-Cell (PIC) code that was designed to execute efficiently on parallel architectures using the MPI message passing standard. Its primary application is to simulate collisionless plasma physics in high-power microwave devices. Recently, ICEPIC was extended to include the functionality to simulate these devices in two dimensions. ICEPIC still remains a parallel code, but can now perform 3-D as well as 2-D simulations without being recompiled. This allows the researcher to perform quick initial simulations in two dimensions. The final design can then be validated in three dimensions to include the three-dimensional aspects of the device that could not be simulated with a two-dimensional PIC code. Comparisons of two-dimensional ICEPIC calculations to three-dimensional ICEPIC calculations were presented at ICOPS99. Comparisons of two-dimensional ICEPIC calculations to other two-dimensional PIC codes will be presented this year.