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At least 55 records · Page 3

Particle simulation on heterogeneous distributed supercomputers

We describe the implementation and performance of a three dimensional particle simulation distributed between a Thinking Machines CM-2 and a Cray Y-MP. These are connected by a combination of two high-speed networks: a high-performance parallel interface (HIPPI) and an optical network (UltraNet). This is the first application to use this configuration at NASA Ames Research Center. We describe our experience implementing and using the application and report the results of several timing measurements. We show that the distribution of applications across disparate supercomputing platforms is feasible and has reasonable performance. In addition, several practical aspects of the computing environment are discussed.

Becker, Jeffrey C.↗

Gyrokinetic Particle Simulations of Core Turbulence in Fusion Plasmas

In this project, we have further developed GTC gyrokinetic particle simulations to study plasma confinement properties in the stellarators and tokamaks with 3D magnetic fields, where both neoclassical and turbulent transport are self-consistently treated on an equal footing.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Gyrokinetic electromagnetic particle simulations in triangular meshes with C1 finite elements

The triangular mesh-based gyrokinetic scheme enables comprehensive axis-to-edge studies across the entire plasma volume. Our approach employs triangular finite elements with first-derivative continuity (C1), building on previous work to facilitate gyrokinetic simulations. Additionally, we have adopted the mixed variable/pullback scheme for gyrokinetic electromagnetic particle simulations. The filter-free treatment in the poloidal cross-section with triangular meshes introduces unique features and challenges compared to previous treatments using structured meshes. Our implementation has been validated through benchmarks using ITPA-toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmode parameters, showing its capability in moderate to small electron skin depth regimes. Additional examinations using experimental parameters confirm its applicability to realistic plasma conditions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Particle simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection in magnetospheric current sheets

The driven collisionless magnetic reconnection processes at the dayside magnetopause and in the magnetotail are investigated through 2.5 D particle simulations. During reconnection, magnetic field configurations with both a single X line and multiple X lines are obtained. Magnetic reconnection enhancements, which are indicated by the peaks in the inductive electric field, are observed in the simulations. Coincident with the magnetic reconnection enhancements, bursts of energetic particles, electrons with an energy spectrum of about E exp -3.8 and ions with an energy spectrum of about E exp -4.4, are generated during the reconnection processes. Field-aligned particle heat fluxes are also generated. Intense plasma waves associated with the reconnection processes are observed. It is found that the fluctuating magnetic field has a power spectrum of about f exp -3.8 and the fluctuating electric field has a power spectrum of about f exp -1.8, respectively. A review of the simulation studies of driven collisionless magnetic reconnection and slow shocks in the magnetospheric current sheets is presented.

Ding, D. Q.↗

Magnetosheath-ionspheric plasma interactions in the cusp/cleft. 2: Mesoscale particle simulations

Ionospheric plasma flowing out from the cusp can be an important source of plasma to the magnetosphere. One source of free energy that can drive this outflow is the injection of magnetosheath plasma into the cusp. Two-dimensional (three velocity) mesoscale particle simulations are used to investigate the particle dynamics in the cusp during southward interplanetary magnetic field. This mesoscale model self-consistently incorporates (1) global influences such as the convection of plasma across the cusp, the action of the mirror force, and the injection of the magnetosheath plasma, and (2) wave-particle interactions which produce the actual coupling between the magnetosheath and ionospheric plasmas. It is shown that, because the thermal speed of the electrons is higher than the bulk motion of the magnetosheath plasma, an upward current is formed on the equatorward edge of the injection region with return currents on either side. However, the poleward return currents are the stronger due to the convection and mirroring of many of the magnetosheath electrons. The electron distribution in this latter region evolves from upward directed streams to single-sided loss cones or possibly electron conics. The ion distribution also shows a variety of distinct features that are produced by spatial and/or temporal effects associated with varying convection patterns and wave-particle interactions. On the equatorward edge the distribution has a downflowing magnetosheath component and an upflowing cold ionospheric component due to continuous convection of ionospheric plasma into the region. In the center of the magnetosheath region, heating from the development of an ion-ion streaming instability causes the suppression of the cold ionospheric component and the formation of downward ionospheric streams. Further poleward there is velocity filtering of ions with low pitch angles, so that the magnetosheath ions develop a ring-beam distribution and the ensuing wave instabilities generate downward ionospheric conics. These downward ionospheric components are eventually turned by the mirror force, leading to the production of upward conics at elevated energies throughout the region.

Winglee, R. M.↗

(abstract) 3D Electromagnetic Plasma Particle Simulations

A 3D electromagnetic plasma particle-in-cell code has been developed using the General Concurrent PIC algorithm. The GCPIC algorithm uses a domain decomposition to divide the computation among the processors. Particles must be exchanged between processors as they move. The efficiencies for 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional partitions of the three dimensional domain are compared, and the algorithm is found to be very efficient even when a large fraction (e.g., 30%) of the particles must be exchanged at every time step. This PIC code has been used to perform simulations of a variety of space plasma physics problems. Results of three applications will be discussed: 1) plasma disturbances induced by moving conducting bodies in a magnetized plasma; 2) plasma plume interactions; and 3) solar wind termination shock.

electromagnetic plasma particles simulations 3D al↗

Particle simulation of rarefied aeropass maneuvers of the Magellan spacecraft

Rarefied and free molecular flowfields corresponding to proposed aeropass maneuvers through the atmosphere of Venus by the Magellan spacecraft are computed with a vectorized particle simulation method. The significance of rarefaction and reaction effects are assessed and surface heat flux, drag coefficients, and flowfield properties are computed. A simple surface heat transfer model is coupled directly to the simulation and assumes that each surface element is in radiative equilibrium with deep space. This allows direct computation of surface temperature distributions rather than requiring prescribed isothermal boundary conditions. Uncoupled dual-node heat transfer models, which account for heat capacity and thermal conductivity within each structural component, permit more accurate determination of surface temperatures. Such temperatures restrict the allowable altitudes and entry speeds of the aeropass maneuvers, and must therefore be estimated accurately. Simulations with an entry velocity of 8600 m/s at altitudes between 125 and 140 km reveal that allowable surface temperatures occur only at the highest altitudes where the flowfield is appropriately modeled as free-molecular. Excessive surface heat flux occurs at lower altitudes where molecular collisions are significant.

Haas, Brian L.↗

Test particle simulation study of whistler wave packets observed near Comet Giacobini-Zinner

Nonlinear interactions of water group ions with large-amplitude whistler wave packets detected at the leading edge of steepened magnetosonic waves observed near Comet Giacobini-Zinner (GZ) are studied using test particle simulations of water-ion interactions with a model wave based on GZ data. Some of the water ions are found to be decelerated in the steepened portion of the magnetosonic wave to the resonance velocity with the whistler wave packets. Through resonance and related nonlinear interaction with the large-amplitude whistler waves, the water ions become trapped by the packet. An energy balance calculation demonstrates that the trapped ions lose their kinetic energy during the trapped motion in the packet. Thus, the nonlinear trapping motion in the wave structure leads to effective energy transfer from the water group ions to the whistler wave packets in the leading edge of the steepened MHD waves.

Kaya, N.↗

3D Electromagnetic Plasma Particle Simulations on the Intel Delta Parallel Computer

A three-dimensional electromagnetic PIC code has been developed on the 512 node Intel Touchstone Delta MIMD parallel computer. This code is based on the General Concurrent PIC algorithm which uses a domain decomposition to divide the computation among the processors. The 3D simulation domain can be partitioned into 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensional subdomains. Particles must be exchanged between processors as they move among the subdomains.

PIC↗

Collaborative Research: Particle Simulation of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection Under Finite Guide Field (Final Technical Report)

The project investigated 3-D linear instabilities of Harris current sheet under a realistic ion-to-electron mass ratio and a finite guide field. The excitation and 3-D properties of lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI), along with two new instabilities were demonstrated. The report presents the nonlinear properties of current sheet instabilities by employing Gyrokinetic electron and Fully kinetic ion (GeFi) particle simulation code. The GeFi simulation results are compared with fully kinetic PIC simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Particle simulation of ion heating in the ring current

Heating of heavy ions has been observed in the equatorial magnetosphere in GEOS 1 and 2 and ATS 6 data due to ion cyclotron waves generated by anisotropic hot ring current ions. A one-dimensional hybrid-Darwin code has been developed to study ion heating in the ring current. Here, a strong instability and heating of thermal ions is investigated in a plasma with a los cone distribution of hot ions. The linear growth rate calculation and particle simulations are conducted for cases with different loss cones and relative ion densities. The linear instability of the waves, the quasi-linear heating of cold ions and dependence on the thermal H(+)/He(+) density ratio are analyzed, as well as nonlinear parallel heating of thermal ions. Effects of thermal oxygen and hot oxygen are also studied.

Qian, S.↗

Collaborative Research: Particle Simulation of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection Under Finite Guide Field

Magnetic reconnection is believed to be one of the most fundamental physical processes in laboratory and space plasmas. Fundamental physics of collisionless reconnection under general conditions of finite guide magnetic field, realistic electron-to-ion mass ratio, and in 3D geometries is still not adequately understood. The major goal of this project is to study the physics of collisionless magnetic reconnection in a current sheet under a finite guide field and with a realistic ion-to-electron mass ratio mi/me. Under the support of this DoE grant, we have made significant progress in (1) the investigation of linear and nonlinear current sheet instabilities under a wide range of guide field using the 3-D gyro kinetic electron and fully kinetic ion (GeFi) particle simulation model and (2) the investigation of fully nonlinear reconnection process with a strong guide field with the GeFi simulations. Furthermore, (3) we have extended the study to the realistic geometry of the magnetopause using 3D global hybrid simulations. This study, from local to global scales and for 3-D physics at plasma boundaries, has provides advanced theoretical understanding of the fundamental physics of magnetic reconnection in laboratory and space plasma regimes on multi-scales.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Calorimetry with deep learning: particle simulation and reconstruction for collider physics

Using detailed simulations of calorimeter showers as training data, we investigate the use of deep learning algorithms for the simulation and reconstruction of single isolated particles produced in high-energy physics collisions. We train neural networks on single-particle shower data at the calorimeter-cell level, and show significant improvements for simulation and reconstruction when using these networks compared to methods which rely on currently-used state-of-the-art algorithms. We define two models: an end-to-end reconstruction network which performs simultaneous particle identification and energy regression of particles when given calorimeter shower data, and a generative network which can provide reasonable modeling of calorimeter showers for different particle types at specified angles and energies. We investigate the optimization of our models with hyperparameter scans. Furthermore, we demonstrate the applicability of the reconstruction model to shower inputs from other detector geometries, specifically ATLAS-like and CMS-like geometries. These networks can serve as fast and computationally light methods for particle shower simulation and reconstruction for current and future experiments at particle colliders.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Demonstration of Capability to Simulate Particle Irregular Shape and Poly-Disperse Mixtures Within Lunar Lander Plume-Surface Interaction

Plume-Surface Interaction (PSI) between lander engine plumes and regolith soil creates hazards in obscuration and contamination by particle clouds, high-energy ejecta streams, and landing area cratering damage. The MSFC Fluid Dynamics Branch is developing simulation tools to offer a predictive PSI capability to NASA customers such as the Human Lander System (HLS) and Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). The Gas-Granular Flow Solver (GGFS) is the main application tool for coupled gas-particle two-phase flow simulations to predict the range of PSI effects from onset of surface erosion to deep crater formation. GGFS features an Eulerian-Eulerian modeling approach, treating both gas and granular material as interacting continuum phases. Modeling the lunar regolith granular material fluidic characteristics poses special challenges due to complex particle shapes and mixture composition. The lunar regolith is poorly sorted with broad particle size distributions and large fines content. It has significant cohesion, due to interlocking jagged particle shapes. Eulerian granular material flow modeling requires closure formulations for the granular material constitutive models (stress, friction, collisional and kinetic energy dissipation, drag, etc.). While closure models for spherical particles are available from particle kinetic theory, closure models for realistic non-spherical particles must be extracted from unit physics Discrete Element Model (DEM) particle interaction simulations and provided in the form of tabular datasets. The effects of particle irregular shape (non-spherical shape factors, angular particle surface roughness, and interlocking features) are simulated by approximating the particle features in the form of grouped elemental spheres to form composite particles in the DEM simulations. The effects of the wide range of regolith mixture particle sizes and the strong effects of the presence of the small particle sizes results in high cohesion and low porosity of the regolith mixture. The range of particle sizes is simulated by binning the particle sizes into an appropriate finite number of particle-size species and solving the problem as a species mixture. Combining these two modeling approaches enables simulations to capture both, the contributions of the irregular particle shape and the particle size distribution. The integration and maturation of the DEM-based constitutive model database generation process and poly-disperse mixture binning approach into the GGFS simulation framework are proceeding under funding by the NASA Game Changing Development program. The status of current capabilities will be presented in comparisons of crater characteristics resulting for spherical and irregular shape particles, and for mono-, bi-, and tri-disperse mixture simulations of Apollo LM plume-surface interaction. The computational results confirm the significance of including the particle shape and mixture effects. Going forward plans for the full implementation of the general poly-disperse regolith modeling capability and maturation towards NASA project application readiness under the GCD program will be presented.

Peter A Liever↗

Demonstration of Capability to Simulate Particle Irregular Shape and Poly-Disperse Mixtures Within Lunar Lander Plume-Surface Interaction

Plume-Surface Interaction (PSI) between lander engine plumes and regolith soil creates hazards in obscuration and contamination by particle clouds, high-energy ejecta streams, and landing area cratering damage. The MSFC Fluid Dynamics Branch is developing simulation tools to offer a predictive PSI capability to NASA customers such as the Human Lander System (HLS) and Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). The Gas-Granular Flow Solver (GGFS) is the main application tool for coupled gas-particle two-phase flow simulations to predict the range of PSI effects from onset of surface erosion to deep crater formation. GGFS features an Eulerian-Eulerian modeling approach, treating both gas and granular material as interacting continuum phases. Modeling the lunar regolith granular material fluidic characteristics poses special challenges due to complex particle shapes and mixture composition. The lunar regolith is poorly sorted with broad particle size distributions and large fines content. It has significant cohesion, due to interlocking jagged particle shapes. Eulerian granular material flow modeling requires closure formulations for the granular material constitutive models (stress, friction, collisional and kinetic energy dissipation, drag, etc.). While closure models for spherical particles are available from particle kinetic theory, closure models for realistic non-spherical particles must be extracted from unit physics Discrete Element Model (DEM) particle interaction simulations and provided in the form of tabular datasets. The effects of particle irregular shape (non-spherical shape factors, angular particle surface roughness, and interlocking features) are simulated by approximating the particle features in the form of grouped elemental spheres to form composite particles in the DEM simulations. The effects of the wide range of regolith mixture particle sizes and the strong effects of the presence of the small particle sizes results in high cohesion and low porosity of the regolith mixture. The range of particle sizes is simulated by binning the particle sizes into an appropriate finite number of particle-size species and solving the problem as a species mixture. Combining these two modeling approaches enables simulations to capture both, the contributions of the irregular particle shape and the particle size distribution. The integration and maturation of the DEM-based constitutive model database generation process and poly-disperse mixture binning approach into the GGFS simulation framework are proceeding under funding by the NASA Game Changing Development program. The status of current capabilities will be presented in comparisons of crater characteristics resulting for spherical and irregular shape particles, and for mono-, bi-, and tri-disperse mixture simulations of Apollo LM plume-surface interaction. The computational results confirm the significance of including the particle shape and mixture effects. Going forward plans for the full implementation of the general poly-disperse regolith modeling capability and maturation towards NASA project application readiness under the GCD program will be presented.

Peter A. Liever↗

Bifurcation and Hysteresis of the Magnetospheric Structure with a varying Southward IMF: Field Topology and Global Three-dimensional Full Particle Simulations

Using a three-dimensional full electromagnetic particle model (EMPM), we have performed global simulations of the interaction between the solar wind and the terrestrial magnetosphere, and have investigated its asymptotic stability. The distance between the dayside magnetopause subsolar point and the Earth center, R(sub mp) is measured, as the intensity of southward IMF |B(sub z)| is slowly varying. Based on the field topology theory, one analyzes the variation of R(sub mp) as a reference index of the dynamics of this interaction, when IMF |B(sub z)| successively increases and decreases to its original value. Two striking results are observed. First, as the IMF |B(sub z)| increases above a critical value, the variation of R(sub mp) suddenly changes (so called 'bifurcation' process in field topology). Above this critical value, the overall magnetic field topology changes drastically and is identified as being the signature of magnetic reconnection at the subsolar point on the magnetopause. Second, this subsolar point recovers its original location R(sub mp) by following different paths as the IMF |B(sub z)| value increases (from zero to a maximum fixed value) and decreases (from this maximum to zero) passing through some critical values. These different paths are the signature of 'hysteresis' effect, and are characteristic of the so-called 'subcritical-type' bifurcation. This hysteresis signature indicates that dissipation processes take place via an energy transfer from the solar wind to the magnetosphere by some irreversible way, which leads to a drastic change in the magnetospheric field topology. This hysteresis is interpreted herein as a consequence of the magnetic reconnection taking place at the dayside magnetopause. The field topology reveals to be a very powerful tool to analyze the signatures of three-dimensional magnetic reconnection without the obligation for determining the mechanisms responsible for, and the consequences of the reconnection on the overall magnetospheric dynamics.

Cai, DongSheng↗

Enhanced Beam Diagnostics with Existing BPPMs via GPU-powered Multi-Particle Simulation

This research aims to utilize the multi-particle code, High-Performance Simulator (HPSim), to realistically model the Side-Coupled-Cavity Linac (CCL) lattice of the LANSCE accelerator. This new model would allow us to predict the beam’s bunch length (the longitudinal spread), which is unavailable for individual accelerating modules or only accessible at the end of the linac. However, a correct bunch length is critical for the high-energy beam transport after the CCL. Its impact would be most significant in the Proton Storage Ring (PSR), where we should be able to reduce losses for the circulating beam. The PSR is scheduled to have a 25% current increase for the neutron spallation target upgrade at the Lujan Center. A highly bunched beam would be necessary to reduce the particle losses and lower the radiation levels produced from the ring. A realistic HPSim model with >1M macro-particles can help tackle the beam losses at the sub-percent level. This new work would also create a realistic surrogate model for future machine learning projects.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗