Magneto-Fluid Dynamics Seminar

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Preserving Gauge Theoretic Structure in Plasma Simulations

Speaker: Alexander Glasser, Princeton University

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 905

Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 11 a.m.

Synopsis:

This work develops the geometric theory of charge conservation in particle-in-cell (PIC) plasma simulations. We define a new class of Hamiltonian algorithms---gauge-compatible splitting methods---that exactly preserve a Hamiltonian system's momentum map---even after time-discretization. We apply this general technique to design a novel, explicit, structure-preserving PIC splitting method, whose momentum map yields an exact local charge conservation law. We further study the preservation of Poincaré symmetry as a gauge symmetry of discrete dynamical fields, with an eye toward constructing plasma simulations that exactly conserve all ten relativistic energy-momenta.