This CUDA/C++ simulation implements a fully-3D Particle-in-Cell (PIC) plasma physics code specifically tailored for fusion energy research. The code simulates the complex behavior of hot, magnetically-confined plasmas using first-principles particle methods with GPU acceleration, providing real-time diagnostics and visualization of key plasma phenomena.
- Full Maxwell's Equations: Self-consistent electromagnetic field evolution
- Boris Particle Pusher: Relativistically-correct particle motion
- Coulomb Collisions: Monte Carlo treatment with realistic cross-sections
- Magnetic Confinement: Toroidal geometry with Grad-Shafranov-like profiles
- Debye Shielding: Resolves plasma collective effects
- Plasma Instabilities: Captures drift-wave and MHD-type modes
- Wave-Particle Interactions: Self-consistent field-particle coupling
- Energy Tracking: Separated electron/ion kinetic, field energies
- Temperature Profiles: Core-edge temperature gradients
- Density Fluctuations: Quantitative turbulence measures
- Plasma Parameters: β, confinement times, collisionality
- Phase Space Analysis: Velocity and spatial distributions
- Instability Growth Rates: Real-time mode identification
- 12 Visualization Modes: From particle trajectories to field structures
- Real-time Control: Interactive camera, rotation, and zoom
- Diagnostic Overlay: Heads-up display with key plasma parameters
- GPU-accelerated Rendering: Smooth visualization at scale
∂f/∂t + v·∇f + (q/m)(E + v×B)·∂f/∂v = C[f] (Vlasov-Boltzmann)
∇·E = ρ/ε₀ (Poisson)
∂B/∂t = -∇×E (Faraday)
∂E/∂t = (∇×B)/μ₀ - J/ε₀ (Ampère-Maxwell)
| Parameter | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Core Temperature | 15-20 keV | Fusion-relevant temperatures |
| Density | 5×10²⁰ m⁻³ | ITER-like density |
| Magnetic Field | 5 Tesla | Standard tokamak field |
| Particle Count | 3×10⁶ | Macro-particles (electrons + ions) |
| Grid Resolution | 10³ cells | 1 mm resolution |
| Time Step | 0.2 ps | Resolves electron plasma frequency |
System Requirements:
- NVIDIA GPU with CUDA Compute Capability 6.0+
- CUDA Toolkit 11.0 or higher
- OpenGL/GLUT libraries
- 8GB+ GPU memory recommended
Dependencies:
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install build-essential nvidia-cuda-toolkit freeglut3-dev# Clone and compile
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/fusion-pic-simulation.git
cd fusion-pic-simulation
# Compile with CUDA
nvcc -std=c++14 -o fusion_pic plasma.cu -lglut -lGLU -lGL -lm -O3 -lcufft -arch=sm_60
# Run the simulation
./fusion_pic- Particle Operations: 256 threads/block, distributed across all particles
- Field Operations: 8×8×8 thread blocks for 3D grid
- Memory Layout: Structure of Arrays (SoA) for coalesced access
- Async Operations: Overlap computation with PCIe transfers
- Tokamak/Stellarator plasma modeling
- Fast ion behavior and alpha particle confinement
- Edge Localized Modes (ELMs) and disruptions
- Radio-frequency heating efficiency
- Solar wind-magnetosphere interactions
- Magnetic reconnection studies
- Plasma turbulence in astrophysical jets
- Plasma processing and etching
- Electric propulsion for spacecraft
- Plasma medicine and bio-applications
- Limited Grid Size: 10³ cells due to memory constraints
- Collision Operator: Simplified Monte Carlo, not full Landau
- Boundary Conditions: Simplified perfect conductor boundaries
- Non-relativistic: v ≪ c assumed (valid for most fusion plasmas)
- Adaptive mesh refinement (AMR)
- Full FDTD Maxwell solver
- Implicit time stepping for electrons
- MPI parallelization for multi-node runs
- Advanced collision operators (Fokker-Planck)
This code is suitable for:
- Graduate-level plasma physics courses
- Computational physics research projects
- HPC training in scientific computing
- Visualization of complex physical systems