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A customized finite-difference field solver for the particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm that provides higher fidelity for wave-particle interactions in intense electromagnetic waves is presented. In many problems of interest, particles with…
Modern ultra-intense laser facilities can generate electromagnetic fields strong enough to accelerate particles to near-light speeds over micron-scale distances and also approach the QED critical field, resulting in highly nonlinear and…
Three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations are used to investigate the interaction of ultrahigh intensity lasers ($> 10^{20}$ W/cm$^{-2}$) with matter at overcritical densities. Intense laser pulses are shown to penetrate up…
Abridged. Kinetic plasma simulations are nowadays commonly used to study a wealth of non-linear behaviours and properties in laboratory and space plasmas. In particular, in high-energy physics and astrophysics, the plasma usually evolves in…
Particle in Cell (PIC) simulations have become a vital tool for the investigation of kinetic processes in plasma physics. Many of the systems investigated with PIC simulations contain particles with relativistic velocities. The correct…
Particle-in-cell codes are the most widely used simulation tools for kinetic studies of ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions. Using the motion of a single electron in a plane electromagnetic wave as a benchmark problem, we show…
The use of explicit particle-in-cell (PIC) method for relativistic plasma simulations is restricted by numerical heating and instabilities that may significantly constrain the choice of time and space steps. To partially eliminate these…
We review common extensions of particle-in-cell (PIC) schemes which account for strong field phenomena in laser-plasma interactions. After describing the physical processes of interest and their numerical implementation, we provide…
Direct studies of intense laser-solid interactions is still of great challenges, because of the many coupled physical mechanisms, such as direct laser heating, ionization dynamics, collision among charged particles, and electrostatic or…
We present a novel numerical scheme for simulating the motion of relativistic charged particles in magnetospheres of compact objects, typically filled with highly magnetized collisionless plasmas. The new algorithm is based on a dynamic…
A fundamental task in particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of plasma physics is solving for charged particle motion in electromagnetic fields. This problem is especially challenging when the plasma is strongly magnetized due to numerical…
Strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SF-QED) plays a crucial role in ultraintense laser matter interactions, and demands sophisticated techniques to understand the related physics with new degrees of freedom, including spin angular…
Advances in ultra-intense laser technology are enabling, for the first time, relativistic intensities at mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelengths. Anticipating further experimental research in this domain, we present high-resolution two…
Numerical heating in particle-in-cell (PIC) codes currently precludes the accurate simulation of cold, relativistic plasma over long periods, severely limiting their applications in astrophysical environments. We present a spatially…
Particle-in-Cell (PIC) methods have achieved widespread recognition as simple and flexible approaches to model collisionless plasma physics in fully kinetic simulations of astrophysical environments. However, in many situations the standard…
We present particle-in-cell simulations of one dimensional relativistic electromagnetic shocks in a uniform magnetic field, for a range of magnetic field strengths, plasma temperatures and numerical initial conditions. We show that the…
Solving for charged particle motion in electromagnetic fields (i.e. the particle pushing problem) is a computationally intensive component of particle-in-cell (PIC) methods for plasma physics simulations. This task is especially challenging…
An integrated simulation approach fully based upon particle-in-cell (PIC) model is proposed, which involves both fast particle generation via laser solid-density plasma interaction and transport and energy deposition of the particles in…
We compare relativistic particle integrators commonly used in plasma physics showing several test cases relevant for astrophysics. Three explicit particle pushers are considered, namely the Boris, Vay, and Higuera-Cary schemes. We also…
This review aims at providing an up-to-date status and a general introduction to the subject of the numerical study of energetic particle acceleration and transport in turbulent astrophysical flows. The subject is also complemented by a…