A Set of Benchmark Tests for Validation of 3D Particle In Cell Methods

Abstract: While the particle-in-cell (PIC) method is quite mature, verification and validation of both newly developed methods and individual codes has largely focused on an idiosyncratic choice of a few test cases. Many of these test cases involve either one- or two-dimensional simulations. This is either due to availability of (quasi) analytic solutions or historical reasons. Additionally, tests often focus on investigation of particular physics problems, such as particle emission or collisions, and do not necessarily study the combined impact of the suite of algorithms necessary for a full featured PIC code. As three dimensional (3D) codes become the norm, there is a lack of benchmarks test that can establish the validity of these codes; existing papers either do not delve into the details of the numerical experiment or provide other measurable numeric metrics (such as noise) that are outcomes of the simulation. This paper seeks to provide several test cases that can be used for validation and bench-marking of particle in cell codes in 3D. We focus on examples that are collisionless, and can be run with a reasonable amount of computational power. Four test cases are presented in significant detail; these include, basic particle motion, beam expansion, adiabatic expansion of plasma, and two stream instability. All presented cases are compared either against existing analytical data or other codes. We anticipate that these cases should help fill the void of bench-marking and validation problems and help the development of new particle in cell codes.