Warp-X: A new exascale computing platform for beam–plasma simulations

Abstract

Turning the current experimental plasma accelerator state-of-the-art from a promising technology into mainstream scientific tools depends critically on high-performance, high-fidelity modeling of complex processes that develop over a wide range of space and time scales. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Exascale Computing Project, a team from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in collaboration with teams from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is developing a new plasma accelerator simulation tool that will harness the power of future exascale supercomputers for high-performance modeling of plasma accelerators. We present the various components of the codes such as the new Particle-In-Cell Scalable Application Resource (PICSAR) and the redesigned adaptive mesh refinement library AMReX, which are combined with redesigned elements of the Warp code, in the new WarpX software. The code structure, status, early examples of applications and plans are discussed.

Pulse front tilt steering in laser plasma accelerators

“…In this paper, we propose a model for electron steering due to pulse front tilt in a laser wakefield accelerator. The model is verified by comparison with PIC simulations of an LPA performed with codes WarpX [15] and Warp [16]. It provides quantitative information on the acceptable PFT fluctuations as well as a practical way to control the final electron beam direction in an LPA.…”

On architecture and performance of adaptive mesh refinement in an electrostatics Particle-In-Cell code

“…In the context of Vlasov-Poisson problems, AMR was applied by [5] using the Eulerian description for the coordinate and velocity space. Examples for a Lagrangian formulation are the Unified Flow Solver (UFS) framework [6] and WarpX [7].…”

Modeling of emittance growth due to Coulomb collisions in plasma-based accelerators

“…In this section, PIC simulations of two setups are carried out, and simulation results are compared with the analytical solutions. All simulations in this work are done using the open-source particle-in-cell code WarpX 26 . The major modules of WarpX that are used in the simulations of this work are Pérez's Monte Carlo binary collision model 20 , Cole-Karkkainen Maxwell solver with Cowan coefficients 27 , Boris's particle pusher 28 , Berenger's perfectly matched layers 29 , and the Lorentz boosted frame technique 30 .…”