Empty: Default PIC Algorithm

Section author: Axel Huebl <a.huebl (at) hzdr.de>

This is an “empty” example, initializing a default particle-in-cell cycle with default algorithms [BirdsallLangdon] [HockneyEastwood] but without a specific test case. When run, it iterates a particle-in-cell algorithm on a vacuum without particles or electro-magnetic fields initialized, which are the default .param files in include/picongpu/param/.

This is a case to demonstrate and test these defaults are still (syntactically) working. In order to set up your own simulation, there is no need to overwrite all .param files but only the ones that are different from the defaults. As an example, just overwrite the default laser (none) and initialize a species with a density distribution.

References

[BirdsallLangdon]

C.K. Birdsall, A.B. Langdon. Plasma Physics via Computer Simulation, McGraw-Hill (1985), ISBN 0-07-005371-5

[HockneyEastwood]

R.W. Hockney, J.W. Eastwood. Computer Simulation Using Particles, CRC Press (1988), ISBN 0-85274-392-0