Collaborative Research: An Asynchronous Exterior Calculus Framework for Charge-Conservative Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell Simulations of Space-Charge Effects on Irregular Grids

本研究的目的是开发新的电磁粒子在细胞离散不规则网格，既不需要线性求解器，也不受时间步长的全局稳定性约束。该方法基于（1）使用外部微积分框架和代数拓扑工具，以一致的方式表示离散空间导数和不规则网格上的粒子聚集/分散操作，以及（2）将所提出的空间离散化与时间积分的显式异步技术相耦合。 智力的优点智力的优点是提供了一个变革性的方法，结合偏微分方程和不规则网格上的粒子的多尺度现象的建模。当前的线性求解器技术对在这种网格上可解决的问题的大小设置了上限，并且当使用传统的时间步进算法时，具有不同时间尺度的求解器在计算时间方面需要巨大的资源。这项研究计划将使目前无法解决的问题得到准确的解决。更广泛的影响这项研究的结果将有利于分析和设计新的微波，太赫兹，和光学设备与复杂的几何形状;模拟运输多孔介质和电磁场在复杂的地质构造的能源勘探或监测环境污染物;和等离子体流的模拟，仅举几例应用。该研究项目将支持俄亥俄州州立大学的一名研究生和两名高级研究人员。这项研究的结果将被纳入俄勒冈州立大学的几门课程，软件将被公开传播。

The objective of this research is to develop new electromagnetic particle-in-cell discretizations for irregular grids that will neither require linear solvers nor be bounded by global stability constraints on the time step. The approach is based on (1) the use of an exterior calculus framework and tools from algebraic topology to represent discrete spatial derivatives and particle gather/scatter operations on irregular meshes in a consistent fashion and (2) the coupling of the proposed spatial discretization with an explicit asynchronous technique for time integration. Intellectual Merit The intellectual merit is to provide a transformative approach for the modeling of multiscale phenomena combining partial differential equations and particles on irregular meshes. Current linear solver technology sets an upper limit on the size of problems solvable on such meshes, and solvers with disparate time scales require enormous resources in terms of computing time when using traditional time-stepping algorithms. This research program will enable accurate solution of problems presently beyond reach. Broader ImpactThe results of this research will benefit the analysis and design of new microwave, terahertz, and optical devices with complex geometries; the simulation of transport in porous media and electromagnetic fields in complex geological formations for energy prospection or monitoring of environmental contaminants; and the simulation of plasma flows, to name a few applications. This research project will support one graduate student at the Ohio State University and two senior researchers. Results of this research will be integrated into several courses at OSU and the software will be publicly disseminated.