SMILEI: A collaborative, open-source, multi-purpose particle-in-cell code for plasma simulation

Year: 2018

Authors: Derouillat J., Beck A., Perez F., Vinci T., Chiaramello M., Grassi A., Fle M., Bouchard G., Plotnikov I., Aunai N., Dargent J., Riconda C., Grech M.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Paris Saclay, UVSQ, Univ Paris Sud, CEA,Maison Simulat, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France; Ecole Polytech, CNRS, IN2P3, Lab Leprince Ringuet, F-91128 Palaiseau, France; Sorbonne Univ, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Univ Paris Saclay, Ecole Polytech,CNRS,CEA,Lab Utilisat Lasers Inten, F-91128 Palaiseau, France; Univ Paris Saclay, Sorbonne Univ, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS,Ecole Polytech,CEA,Lab Utilisat Lasers Inten, F-75252 Paris 05, France; Univ Pisa, Dipartimento Fis Enrico Fermi, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; Ist Nazl Ottica, CNR, Uos Adriano Gozzini, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; Inst Dev Ressources Informat Sci, CNRS, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; Univ Paris Saclay, CEN Saclay, DSM IRAMIS, CEA,Lasers Interact & Dynam Lab, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France; Univ Toulouse, UPS OMP, Inst Rech Astrophys & Planetol, F-31400 Toulouse, France; Univ Paris Sud, UPMC, Ecole Polytech, CNRS,Lab Phys Plasmas, F-91128 Palaiseau, France.

Abstract: SMILE! is a collaborative, open-source, object-oriented (C++) particle-in-cell code. To benefit from the latest advances in high-performance computing (HPC), SMILEI is co-developed by both physicists and HPC experts. The code’s structures, capabilities, parallelization strategy and performances are discussed. Additional modules (e.g. to treat ionization or collisions), benchmarks and physics highlights are also presented. Multi-purpose and evolutive, SMILEI is applied today to a wide range of physics studies, from relativistic laser-plasma interaction to astrophysical plasmas.
Program summary
Program title: SMILEI (version 3.2)
Program Files doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/gsn4x6mbrg.1
Licensing provisions: This version of the code is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3
Programming language: C++11, Python 2.7
Nature of the problem: The kinetic simulation of plasmas is at the center of various physics studies, from laser plasma interaction to astrophysics. To address today’s challenges, a versatile simulation tool requires high-performance computing on massively parallel super-computers.
Solution method: The Vlasov-Maxwell system describing the self-consistent evolution of a collisionless plasma is solved using the Particle-In-Cell (PIC) method. Additional physics modules allow to account for additional effects such as collisions and/or ionization. A hybrid MPI-OpenMP strategy, based on a patch based super-decomposition, allows for efficient cache-use, dynamic load balancing and high-performance on massively parallel super-computers.
Additional comments: Repository https://github.com/SmileiPlC/Smilei
References: http://www.maisondelasimulation.fr/smilei (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Journal/Review: COMPUTER PHYSICS COMMUNICATIONS

Volume: 222      Pages from: 351  to: 373

More Information: The authors are grateful to L. Gremillet, M. Lobet, R. Nuter and A. Sgattoni for fruitful discussions, and Ph. Savoini for feedback on the code. MG and GB thank F. Que’re and H. Vincenti for sharing physics insights. Financial support from the Investissements d’Avenir of the PALM LabEx (ANR-10-LABX-0039-PALM, Junior Chair SimPLE) and from the Plas@Par LabEx (ANR-11-IDEX-0004-02) are acknowledged. AG acknowledges financial support from the Universite Franco-Italienne through the Vinci program (Grant No. C2-133). NA and JDa thank the ANR (project ANR-13-PDOC-0027) for funding their research. MG personally thanks the collaboration federated around the ANR MACH project (ANR-14-CE33-0019 MACH). This work was performed using HPC resources from GENCI-IDRIS Grands Challenges 2015, GENCI-IDRIS/TGCC (Grants 2016-x2016057678 and 2017-x2016057678), GENCI-CINES (Grant 2016-c2016067484) and GENCI-CINES (Special allocation no t201604s020).
KeyWords: Plasma kinetic simulation; Particle-In-Cell (PIC); High-performance computing; Laser-plasma interaction; Astrophysical plasmas
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2017.09.024

Citations: 310
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