Simulations for Plasma and Laser Acceleration

Abstract

Computer simulations have had a profound impact on the design and understanding of past and present plasma acceleration experiments, and will be a key component for turning plasma accelerators from a promising technology into a mainstream scientific tool. In this article, we present an overview of the numerical techniques used with the most popular approaches to model plasma-based accelerators: electromagnetic particle-in-cell, quasistatic and ponderomotive guiding center. The material that is presented is intended to serve as an introduction to the basics of those approaches, and to advances (some of them very recent) that have pushed the state of the art, such as the optimal Lorentz-boosted frame, advanced laser envelope solvers and the elimination of numerical Cherenkov instability. The particle-in-cell method, which has broader interest and is more standardized, is presented in more depth. Additional topics that are cross-cutting, such as azimuthal Fourier decomposition or filtering, are also discussed, as well as potential challenges and remedies in the initialization of simulations and output of data. Examples of simulations using the techniques that are presented have been left out of this article for conciseness, and because simulation results are best understood when presented together, and contrasted with theoretical and/or experimental results, as in other articles of this volume.