Parameters: Python (PICMI)

This documents on how to use WarpX as a Python script (e.g., python3 PICMI_script.py).

WarpX uses the PICMI standard for its Python input files. Complete example input files can be found in the examples section.

In the input file, instances of classes are created defining the various aspects of the simulation. A variable of type pywarpx.picmi.Simulation is the central object to which all other options are passed, defining the simulation time, field solver, registered species, etc.

Once the simulation is fully configured, it can be used in one of two modes. Interactive use is the most common and can be extended with custom runtime functionality:

step(): run directly from Python

write_input_file(): create an inputs file for a WarpX executable

Simulation and Grid Setup

class pywarpx.picmi.Simulation(solver=None, time_step_size=None, max_steps=None, max_time=None, verbose=None, particle_shape='linear', gamma_boost=None, cpu_split=None, load_balancing=None, **kw)[source]

Creates a Simulation object

Parameters:

  • solver (field solver instance) – This is the field solver to be used in the simulation. It should be an instance of field solver classes.

  • time_step_size (float) – Absolute time step size of the simulation [s]. Needed if the CFL is not specified elsewhere.

  • max_steps (integer) – Maximum number of time steps. Specify either this, or max_time, or use the step function directly.

  • max_time (float) – Maximum physical time to run the simulation [s]. Specify either this, or max_steps, or use the step function directly.

  • verbose (integer, optional) – Verbosity flag. A larger integer results in more verbose output

  • particle_shape ({'NGP', 'linear', 'quadratic', 'cubic'}) – Default particle shape for species added to this simulation

  • gamma_boost (float, optional) – Lorentz factor of the boosted simulation frame. Note that all input values should be in the lab frame.

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_current_deposition_algo ({'direct', 'esirkepov', and 'vay'}, optional) – Current deposition algorithm. The default depends on conditions.

  • warpx_charge_deposition_algo ({'standard'}, optional) – Charge deposition algorithm.

  • warpx_field_gathering_algo ({'energy-conserving', 'momentum-conserving'}, optional) – Field gathering algorithm. The default depends on conditions.

  • warpx_particle_pusher_algo ({'boris', 'vay', 'higuera'}, default='boris') – Particle pushing algorithm.

  • warpx_use_filter (bool, optional) – Whether to use filtering. The default depends on the conditions.

  • warpx_do_multi_J (bool, default=0) – Whether to use the multi-J algorithm, where current deposition and field update are performed multiple times within each time step.

  • warpx_do_multi_J_n_depositions (integer) – Number of sub-steps to use with the multi-J algorithm, when warpx_do_multi_J=1. Note that this input parameter is not optional and must always be set in all input files where warpx.do_multi_J=1. No default value is provided automatically.

  • warpx_grid_type ({'collocated', 'staggered', 'hybrid'}, default='staggered') – Whether to use a collocated grid (all fields defined at the cell nodes), a staggered grid (fields defined on a Yee grid), or a hybrid grid (fields and currents are interpolated back and forth between a staggered grid and a collocated grid, must be used with momentum-conserving field gathering algorithm).

  • warpx_do_current_centering (bool, optional) – If true, the current is deposited on a nodal grid and then centered to a staggered grid (Yee grid), using finite-order interpolation. Default: warpx.do_current_centering=0 with collocated or staggered grids, warpx.do_current_centering=1 with hybrid grids.

  • warpx_field_centering_nox/noy/noz (integer, optional) – The order of interpolation used with staggered or hybrid grids (warpx_grid_type=staggered or warpx_grid_type=hybrid) and momentum-conserving field gathering (warpx_field_gathering_algo=momentum-conserving) to interpolate the electric and magnetic fields from the cell centers to the cell nodes, before gathering the fields from the cell nodes to the particle positions. Default: warpx_field_centering_no<x,y,z>=2 with staggered grids, warpx_field_centering_no<x,y,z>=8 with hybrid grids (typically necessary to ensure stability in boosted-frame simulations of relativistic plasmas and beams).

  • warpx_current_centering_nox/noy/noz (integer, optional) – The order of interpolation used with hybrid grids (warpx_grid_type=hybrid) to interpolate the currents from the cell nodes to the cell centers when warpx_do_current_centering=1, before pushing the Maxwell fields on staggered grids. Default: warpx_current_centering_no<x,y,z>=8 with hybrid grids (typically necessary to ensure stability in boosted-frame simulations of relativistic plasmas and beams).

  • warpx_serialize_initial_conditions (bool, default=False) – Controls the random numbers used for initialization. This parameter should only be used for testing and continuous integration.

  • warpx_random_seed (string or int, optional) – (See documentation)

  • warpx_do_dynamic_scheduling (bool, default=True) – Whether to do dynamic scheduling with OpenMP

  • warpx_load_balance_intervals (string, default='0') – The intervals for doing load balancing

  • warpx_load_balance_efficiency_ratio_threshold (float, default=1.1) – (See documentation)

  • warpx_load_balance_with_sfc (bool, default=0) – (See documentation)

  • warpx_load_balance_knapsack_factor (float, default=1.24) – (See documentation)

  • warpx_load_balance_costs_update ({'heuristic' or 'timers' or 'gpuclock'}, optional) – (See documentation)

  • warpx_costs_heuristic_particles_wt (float, optional) – (See documentation)

  • warpx_costs_heuristic_cells_wt (float, optional) – (See documentation)

  • warpx_use_fdtd_nci_corr (bool, optional) – Whether to use the NCI correction when using the FDTD solver

  • warpx_amr_check_input (bool, optional) – Whether AMReX should perform checks on the input (primarily related to the max grid size and blocking factors)

  • warpx_amr_restart (string, optional) – The name of the restart to use

  • warpx_amrex_the_arena_is_managed (bool, optional) – Whether to use managed memory in the AMReX Arena

  • warpx_amrex_the_arena_init_size (long int, optional) – The amount of memory in bytes to allocate in the Arena.

  • warpx_amrex_use_gpu_aware_mpi (bool, optional) – Whether to use GPU-aware MPI communications

  • warpx_zmax_plasma_to_compute_max_step (float, optional) – Sets the simulation run time based on the maximum z value

  • warpx_compute_max_step_from_btd (bool, default=0) – If specified, automatically calculates the number of iterations required in the boosted frame for all back-transformed diagnostics to be completed.

  • warpx_collisions (collision instance, optional) – The collision instance specifying the particle collisions

  • warpx_embedded_boundary (embedded boundary instance, optional) –

  • warpx_break_signals (list of strings) – Signals on which to break

  • warpx_checkpoint_signals (list of strings) – Signals on which to write out a checkpoint

  • warpx_numprocs (list of ints (1 in 1D, 2 in 2D, 3 in 3D)) – Domain decomposition on the coarsest level. The domain will be chopped into the exact number of pieces in each dimension as specified by this parameter. https://warpx.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage/parameters.html#distribution-across-mpi-ranks-and-parallelization https://warpx.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage/domain_decomposition.html#simple-method

  • warpx_sort_intervals (string, optional (defaults: -1 on CPU; 4 on GPU)) – Using the Intervals parser syntax, this string defines the timesteps at which particles are sorted. If <=0, do not sort particles. It is turned on on GPUs for performance reasons (to improve memory locality).

  • warpx_sort_particles_for_deposition (bool, optional (default: true for the CUDA backend, otherwise false)) – This option controls the type of sorting used if particle sorting is turned on, i.e. if sort_intervals is not <=0. If true, particles will be sorted by cell to optimize deposition with many particles per cell, in the order x -> y -> z -> ppc. If false, particles will be sorted by bin, using the sort_bin_size parameter below, in the order ppc -> x -> y -> z. true is recommended for best performance on NVIDIA GPUs, especially if there are many particles per cell.

  • warpx_sort_idx_type (list of int, optional (default: 0 0 0)) –

    This controls the type of grid used to sort the particles when sort_particles_for_deposition is true. Possible values are:

    • idx_type = {0, 0, 0}: Sort particles to a cell centered grid,

    • idx_type = {1, 1, 1}: Sort particles to a node centered grid,

    • idx_type = {2, 2, 2}: Compromise between a cell and node centered grid.

    In 2D (XZ and RZ), only the first two elements are read. In 1D, only the first element is read.

  • warpx_sort_bin_size (list of int, optional (default 1 1 1)) – If sort_intervals is activated and sort_particles_for_deposition is false, particles are sorted in bins of sort_bin_size cells. In 2D, only the first two elements are read.

add_laser(laser, injection_method)

Add a laser pulses that to be injected in the simulation

Parameters:

  • laser_profile (laser instance) – One of laser profile instances. Specifies the physical properties of the laser pulse (e.g. spatial and temporal profile, wavelength, amplitude, etc.).

  • injection_method (laser injection instance, optional) – Specifies how the laser is injected (numerically) into the simulation (e.g. through a laser antenna, or directly added to the mesh). This argument describes an algorithm, not a physical object. It is up to each code to define the default method of injection, if the user does not provide injection_method.

add_species(species, layout, initialize_self_field=None)

Add species to be used in the simulation

Parameters:

  • species (species instance) – An instance of one of the PICMI species objects. Defines species to be added from the physical point of view (e.g. charge, mass, initial distribution of particles).

  • layout (layout instance) – An instance of one of the PICMI particle layout objects. Defines how particles are added into the simulation, from the numerical point of view.

  • initialize_self_field (bool, optional) – Whether the initial space-charge fields of this species is calculated and added to the simulation

step(nsteps=None, mpi_comm=None)[source]

Run the simulation for nsteps timesteps

Parameters:

nsteps (integer, default=1) – The number of timesteps

write_input_file(file_name='inputs')[source]

Write the parameters of the simulation, as defined in the PICMI input, into a code-specific input file.

This can be used for codes that are not Python-driven (e.g. compiled, pure C++ or Fortran codes) and expect a text input in a given format.

Parameters:

file_name (string) – The path to the file that will be created

class pywarpx.picmi.Cartesian3DGrid(number_of_cells=None, lower_bound=None, upper_bound=None, lower_boundary_conditions=None, upper_boundary_conditions=None, nx=None, ny=None, nz=None, xmin=None, xmax=None, ymin=None, ymax=None, zmin=None, zmax=None, bc_xmin=None, bc_xmax=None, bc_ymin=None, bc_ymax=None, bc_zmin=None, bc_zmax=None, moving_window_velocity=None, refined_regions=[], lower_bound_particles=None, upper_bound_particles=None, xmin_particles=None, xmax_particles=None, ymin_particles=None, ymax_particles=None, zmin_particles=None, zmax_particles=None, lower_boundary_conditions_particles=None, upper_boundary_conditions_particles=None, bc_xmin_particles=None, bc_xmax_particles=None, bc_ymin_particles=None, bc_ymax_particles=None, bc_zmin_particles=None, bc_zmax_particles=None, guard_cells=None, pml_cells=None, **kw)[source]

Three dimensional Cartesian grid Parameters can be specified either as vectors or separately. (If both are specified, the vector is used.)

Parameters:

  • number_of_cells (vector of integers) – Number of cells along each axis (number of nodes is number_of_cells+1)

  • lower_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the upper bound [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at lower boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • upper_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at upper boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • nx (integer) – Number of cells along X (number of nodes=nx+1)

  • ny (integer) – Number of cells along Y (number of nodes=ny+1)

  • nz (integer) – Number of cells along Z (number of nodes=nz+1)

  • xmin (float) – Position of first node along X [m]

  • xmax (float) – Position of last node along X [m]

  • ymin (float) – Position of first node along Y [m]

  • ymax (float) – Position of last node along Y [m]

  • zmin (float) – Position of first node along Z [m]

  • zmax (float) – Position of last node along Z [m]

  • bc_xmin (string) – Boundary condition at min X: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_xmax (string) – Boundary condition at max X: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_ymin (string) – Boundary condition at min Y: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_ymax (string) – Boundary condition at max Y: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_zmin (string) – Boundary condition at min Z: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_zmax (string) – Boundary condition at max Z: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • moving_window_velocity (vector of floats, optional) – Moving frame velocity [m/s]

  • refined_regions (list of lists, optional) – List of refined regions, each element being a list of the format [level, lo, hi, refinement_factor], with level being the refinement level, with 1 being the first level of refinement, 2 being the second etc, lo and hi being vectors of length 3 specifying the extent of the region, and refinement_factor defaulting to [2,2,2] (relative to next lower level)

  • lower_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle upper bound [m]

  • xmin_particles (float, optional) – Position of min particle boundary along X [m]

  • xmax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along X [m]

  • ymin_particles (float, optional) – Position of min particle boundary along Y [m]

  • ymax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along Y [m]

  • float (zmin_particles) – Position of min particle boundary along Z [m]

  • optional – Position of min particle boundary along Z [m]

  • zmax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along Z [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at lower boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • upper_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at upper boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • bc_xmin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min X for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_xmax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max X for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_ymin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min Y for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_ymax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max Y for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_zmin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min Z for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_zmax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max Z for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • guard_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of guard cells used along each direction

  • pml_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) cells along each direction

References

  • absorbing_silver_mueller: A local absorbing boundary condition that works best under normal incidence angle. Based on the Silver-Mueller Radiation Condition, e.g., in - A. K. Belhora and L. Pichon, “Maybe Efficient Absorbing Boundary Conditions for the Finite Element Solution of 3D Scattering Problems,” 1995,

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_max_grid_size (integer, default=32) – Maximum block size in either direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_x (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in x direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_y (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in z direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_z (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in z direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size)

  • warpx_blocking_factor_x (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the x direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor_y (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the z direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor_z (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the z direction

  • warpx_potential_lo_x (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower x boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_x (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper x boundary

  • warpx_potential_lo_y (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower z boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_y (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper z boundary

  • warpx_potential_lo_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower z boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper z boundary

  • warpx_start_moving_window_step (int, default=0) – The timestep at which the moving window starts

  • warpx_end_moving_window_step (int, default=-1) – The timestep at which the moving window ends. If -1, the moving window will continue until the end of the simulation.

class pywarpx.picmi.Cartesian2DGrid(number_of_cells=None, lower_bound=None, upper_bound=None, lower_boundary_conditions=None, upper_boundary_conditions=None, nx=None, ny=None, xmin=None, xmax=None, ymin=None, ymax=None, bc_xmin=None, bc_xmax=None, bc_ymin=None, bc_ymax=None, moving_window_velocity=None, refined_regions=[], lower_bound_particles=None, upper_bound_particles=None, xmin_particles=None, xmax_particles=None, ymin_particles=None, ymax_particles=None, lower_boundary_conditions_particles=None, upper_boundary_conditions_particles=None, bc_xmin_particles=None, bc_xmax_particles=None, bc_ymin_particles=None, bc_ymax_particles=None, guard_cells=None, pml_cells=None, **kw)[source]

Two dimensional Cartesian grid Parameters can be specified either as vectors or separately. (If both are specified, the vector is used.)

Parameters:

  • number_of_cells (vector of integers) – Number of cells along each axis (number of nodes is number_of_cells+1)

  • lower_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the upper bound [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at lower boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • upper_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at upper boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • nx (integer) – Number of cells along X (number of nodes=nx+1)

  • ny (integer) – Number of cells along Y (number of nodes=ny+1)

  • xmin (float) – Position of first node along X [m]

  • xmax (float) – Position of last node along X [m]

  • ymin (float) – Position of first node along Y [m]

  • ymax (float) – Position of last node along Y [m]

  • bc_xmin (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at min X: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_xmax (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at max X: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_ymin (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at min Y: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_ymax (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at max Y: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • moving_window_velocity (vector of floats, optional) – Moving frame velocity [m/s]

  • refined_regions (list of lists, optional) – List of refined regions, each element being a list of the format [level, lo, hi, refinement_factor], with level being the refinement level, with 1 being the first level of refinement, 2 being the second etc, lo and hi being vectors of length 2 specifying the extent of the region, and refinement_factor defaulting to [2,2] (relative to next lower level)

  • lower_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle upper bound [m]

  • xmin_particles (float, optional) – Position of min particle boundary along X [m]

  • xmax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along X [m]

  • ymin_particles (float, optional) – Position of min particle boundary along Y [m]

  • ymax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along Y [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at lower boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • upper_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at upper boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • bc_xmin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min X for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_xmax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max X for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_ymin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min Y for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_ymax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max Y for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • guard_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of guard cells used along each direction

  • pml_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) cells along each direction

References

  • absorbing_silver_mueller: A local absorbing boundary condition that works best under normal incidence angle. Based on the Silver-Mueller Radiation Condition, e.g., in - A. K. Belhora and L. Pichon, “Maybe Efficient Absorbing Boundary Conditions for the Finite Element Solution of 3D Scattering Problems,” 1995,

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_max_grid_size (integer, default=32) – Maximum block size in either direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_x (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in x direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_y (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in z direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size)

  • warpx_blocking_factor_x (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the x direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor_y (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the z direction

  • warpx_potential_lo_x (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower x boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_x (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper x boundary

  • warpx_potential_lo_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower z boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper z boundary

  • warpx_start_moving_window_step (int, default=0) – The timestep at which the moving window starts

  • warpx_end_moving_window_step (int, default=-1) – The timestep at which the moving window ends. If -1, the moving window will continue until the end of the simulation.

class pywarpx.picmi.Cartesian1DGrid(number_of_cells=None, lower_bound=None, upper_bound=None, lower_boundary_conditions=None, upper_boundary_conditions=None, nx=None, xmin=None, xmax=None, bc_xmin=None, bc_xmax=None, moving_window_velocity=None, refined_regions=[], lower_bound_particles=None, upper_bound_particles=None, xmin_particles=None, xmax_particles=None, lower_boundary_conditions_particles=None, upper_boundary_conditions_particles=None, bc_xmin_particles=None, bc_xmax_particles=None, guard_cells=None, pml_cells=None, **kw)[source]

One-dimensional Cartesian grid Parameters can be specified either as vectors or separately. (If both are specified, the vector is used.)

Parameters:

  • number_of_cells (vector of integers) – Number of cells along each axis (number of nodes is number_of_cells+1)

  • lower_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the upper bound [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at lower boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • upper_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at upper boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • nx (integer) – Number of cells along X (number of nodes=nx+1)

  • xmin (float) – Position of first node along X [m]

  • xmax (float) – Position of last node along X [m]

  • bc_xmin (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at min X: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_xmax (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at max X: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • moving_window_velocity (vector of floats, optional) – Moving frame velocity [m/s]

  • refined_regions (list of lists, optional) – List of refined regions, each element being a list of the format [level, lo, hi, refinement_factor], with level being the refinement level, with 1 being the first level of refinement, 2 being the second etc, lo and hi being vectors of length 2 specifying the extent of the region, and refinement_factor defaulting to [2,2] (relative to next lower level)

  • lower_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle upper bound [m]

  • xmin_particles (float, optional) – Position of min particle boundary along X [m]

  • xmax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along X [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at lower boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • upper_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at upper boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • bc_xmin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min X for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_xmax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max X for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • guard_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of guard cells used along each direction

  • pml_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) cells along each direction

References

  • absorbing_silver_mueller: A local absorbing boundary condition that works best under normal incidence angle. Based on the Silver-Mueller Radiation Condition, e.g., in - A. K. Belhora and L. Pichon, “Maybe Efficient Absorbing Boundary Conditions for the Finite Element Solution of 3D Scattering Problems,” 1995,

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_max_grid_size (integer, default=32) – Maximum block size in either direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_x (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in longitudinal direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size)

  • warpx_blocking_factor_x (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the longitudinal direction

  • warpx_potential_lo_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower longitudinal boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper longitudinal boundary

  • warpx_start_moving_window_step (int, default=0) – The timestep at which the moving window starts

  • warpx_end_moving_window_step (int, default=-1) – The timestep at which the moving window ends. If -1, the moving window will continue until the end of the simulation.

class pywarpx.picmi.CylindricalGrid(number_of_cells=None, lower_bound=None, upper_bound=None, lower_boundary_conditions=None, upper_boundary_conditions=None, nr=None, nz=None, n_azimuthal_modes=None, rmin=None, rmax=None, zmin=None, zmax=None, bc_rmin=None, bc_rmax=None, bc_zmin=None, bc_zmax=None, moving_window_velocity=None, refined_regions=[], lower_bound_particles=None, upper_bound_particles=None, rmin_particles=None, rmax_particles=None, zmin_particles=None, zmax_particles=None, lower_boundary_conditions_particles=None, upper_boundary_conditions_particles=None, bc_rmin_particles=None, bc_rmax_particles=None, bc_zmin_particles=None, bc_zmax_particles=None, guard_cells=None, pml_cells=None, **kw)[source]

Axisymmetric, cylindrical grid Parameters can be specified either as vectors or separately. (If both are specified, the vector is used.)

Parameters:

  • number_of_cells (vector of integers) – Number of cells along each axis (number of nodes is number_of_cells+1)

  • lower_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound (vector of floats) – Position of the node at the upper bound [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at lower boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • upper_boundary_conditions (vector of strings) – Conditions at upper boundaries, periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • nr (integer) – Number of cells along R (number of nodes=nr+1)

  • nz (integer) – Number of cells along Z (number of nodes=nz+1)

  • n_azimuthal_modes (integer) – Number of azimuthal modes

  • rmin (float) – Position of first node along R [m]

  • rmax (float) – Position of last node along R [m]

  • zmin (float) – Position of first node along Z [m]

  • zmax (float) – Position of last node along Z [m]

  • bc_rmin (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at min R: One of open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_rmax (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at max R: One of open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_zmin (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at min Z: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • bc_zmax (vector of strings) – Boundary condition at max Z: One of periodic, open, dirichlet, absorbing_silver_mueller, or neumann

  • moving_window_velocity (vector of floats, optional) – Moving frame velocity [m/s]

  • refined_regions (list of lists, optional) – List of refined regions, each element being a list of the format [level, lo, hi, refinement_factor], with level being the refinement level, with 1 being the first level of refinement, 2 being the second etc, lo and hi being vectors of length 2 specifying the extent of the region, and refinement_factor defaulting to [2,2] (relative to next lower level)

  • lower_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle lower bound [m]

  • upper_bound_particles (vector of floats, optional) – Position of particle upper bound [m]

  • rmin_particles (float, optional) – Position of min particle boundary along R [m]

  • rmax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along R [m]

  • zmin_particles (float, optional) – Position of min particle boundary along Z [m]

  • zmax_particles (float, optional) – Position of max particle boundary along Z [m]

  • lower_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at lower boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • upper_boundary_conditions_particles (vector of strings, optional) – Conditions at upper boundaries for particles, periodic, absorbing, reflect or thermal

  • bc_rmin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min R for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_rmax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max R for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_zmin_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at min Z for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • bc_zmax_particles (string, optional) – Boundary condition at max Z for particles: One of periodic, absorbing, reflect, thermal

  • guard_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of guard cells used along each direction

  • pml_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) cells along each direction

References

  • absorbing_silver_mueller: A local absorbing boundary condition that works best under normal incidence angle. Based on the Silver-Mueller Radiation Condition, e.g., in - A. K. Belhora and L. Pichon, “Maybe Efficient Absorbing Boundary Conditions for the Finite Element Solution of 3D Scattering Problems,” 1995,

Implementation specific documentation

This assumes that WarpX was compiled with USE_RZ = TRUE

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_max_grid_size (integer, default=32) – Maximum block size in either direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_x (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in radial direction

  • warpx_max_grid_size_y (integer, optional) – Maximum block size in longitudinal direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size)

  • warpx_blocking_factor_x (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the radial direction

  • warpx_blocking_factor_y (integer, optional) – Blocking factor (which controls the block size) in the longitudinal direction

  • warpx_potential_lo_r (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower radial boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_r (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper radial boundary

  • warpx_potential_lo_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the lower longitudinal boundary

  • warpx_potential_hi_z (float, default=0.) – Electrostatic potential on the upper longitudinal boundary

  • warpx_reflect_all_velocities (bool default=False) – Whether the sign of all of the particle velocities are changed upon reflection on a boundary, or only the velocity normal to the surface

  • warpx_start_moving_window_step (int, default=0) – The timestep at which the moving window starts

  • warpx_end_moving_window_step (int, default=-1) – The timestep at which the moving window ends. If -1, the moving window will continue until the end of the simulation.

class pywarpx.picmi.EmbeddedBoundary(implicit_function=None, stl_file=None, stl_scale=None, stl_center=None, stl_reverse_normal=False, potential=None, cover_multiple_cuts=None, **kw)[source]

Custom class to handle set up of embedded boundaries specific to WarpX. If embedded boundary initialization is added to picmistandard this can be changed to inherit that functionality. The geometry can be specified either as an implicit function or as an STL file (ASCII or binary). In the latter case the geometry specified in the STL file can be scaled, translated and inverted.

Parameters:

  • implicit_function (string) – Analytic expression describing the embedded boundary

  • stl_file (string) – STL file path (string), file contains the embedded boundary geometry

  • stl_scale (float) – Factor by which the STL geometry is scaled

  • stl_center (vector of floats) – Vector by which the STL geometry is translated (in meters)

  • stl_reverse_normal (bool) – If True inverts the orientation of the STL geometry

  • potential (string, default=0.) – Analytic expression defining the potential. Can only be specified when the solver is electrostatic.

  • cover_multiple_cuts (bool, default=None) – Whether to cover cells with multiple cuts. (If False, this will raise an error if some cells have multiple cuts)

  • arguments. (Parameters used in the analytic expressions should be given as additional keyword) –

Field solvers define the updates of electric and magnetic fields.

class pywarpx.picmi.ElectromagneticSolver(grid, method=None, stencil_order=None, cfl=None, source_smoother=None, field_smoother=None, subcycling=None, galilean_velocity=None, divE_cleaning=None, divB_cleaning=None, pml_divE_cleaning=None, pml_divB_cleaning=None, **kw)[source]

Electromagnetic field solver

Parameters:

  • grid (grid instance) – Grid object for the diagnostic

  • method ({'Yee', 'CKC', 'Lehe', 'PSTD', 'PSATD', 'GPSTD', 'DS', 'ECT'}) –

    The advance method use to solve Maxwell’s equations. The default method is code dependent.

  • stencil_order (vector of integers) – Order of stencil for each axis (-1=infinite)

  • cfl (float, optional) – Fraction of the Courant-Friedrich-Lewy criteria [1]

  • source_smoother (smoother instance, optional) – Smoother object to apply to the sources

  • field_smoother (smoother instance, optional) – Smoother object to apply to the fields

  • subcycling (integer, optional) – Level of subcycling for the GPSTD solver

  • galilean_velocity (vector of floats, optional) – Velocity of Galilean reference frame [m/s]

  • divE_cleaning (bool, optional) – Solver uses div(E) cleaning if True

  • divB_cleaning (bool, optional) – Solver uses div(B) cleaning if True

  • pml_divE_cleaning (bool, optional) – Solver uses div(E) cleaning in the PML if True

  • pml_divB_cleaning (bool, optional) – Solver uses div(B) cleaning in the PML if True

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_pml_ncell (integer, optional) – The depth of the PML, in number of cells

  • warpx_periodic_single_box_fft (bool, default=False) – Whether to do the spectral solver FFTs assuming a single simulation block

  • warpx_current_correction (bool, default=True) – Whether to do the current correction for the spectral solver. See documentation for exceptions to the default value.

  • warpx_psatd_update_with_rho (bool, optional) – Whether to update with the actual rho for the spectral solver

  • warpx_psatd_do_time_averaging (bool, optional) – Whether to do the time averaging for the spectral solver

  • warpx_psatd_J_in_time ({'constant', 'linear'}, default='constant') – This determines whether the current density is assumed to be constant or linear in time, within the time step over which the electromagnetic fields are evolved.

  • warpx_psatd_rho_in_time ({'linear'}, default='linear') – This determines whether the charge density is assumed to be linear in time, within the time step over which the electromagnetic fields are evolved.

  • warpx_do_pml_in_domain (bool, default=False) – Whether to do the PML boundaries within the domain (versus in the guard cells)

  • warpx_pml_has_particles (bool, default=False) – Whether to allow particles in the PML region

  • warpx_do_pml_j_damping (bool, default=False) – Whether to do damping of J in the PML

class pywarpx.picmi.ElectrostaticSolver(grid, method=None, required_precision=None, maximum_iterations=None, **kw)[source]

Electrostatic field solver

Parameters:

  • grid (grid instance) – Grid object for the diagnostic

  • method (string) – One of ‘FFT’, or ‘Multigrid’

  • required_precision (float, optional) – Level of precision required for iterative solvers

  • maximum_iterations (integer, optional) – Maximum number of iterations for iterative solvers

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_relativistic (bool, default=False) – Whether to use the relativistic solver or lab frame solver

  • warpx_absolute_tolerance (float, default=0.) – Absolute tolerance on the lab frame solver

  • warpx_self_fields_verbosity (integer, default=2) – Level of verbosity for the lab frame solver

Constants

For convenience, the PICMI interface defines the following constants, which can be used directly inside any PICMI script. The values are in SI units.

  • picmi.constants.c: The speed of light in vacuum.

  • picmi.constants.ep0: The vacuum permittivity \(\epsilon_0\)

  • picmi.constants.mu0: The vacuum permeability \(\mu_0\)

  • picmi.constants.q_e: The elementary charge (absolute value of the charge of an electron).

  • picmi.constants.m_e: The electron mass

  • picmi.constants.m_p: The proton mass

Applied fields

class pywarpx.picmi.AnalyticInitialField(Ex_expression=None, Ey_expression=None, Ez_expression=None, Bx_expression=None, By_expression=None, Bz_expression=None, lower_bound=[None, None, None], upper_bound=[None, None, None], **kw)[source]

Describes an analytic applied field

The expressions should be in terms of the position and time, written as ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘z’, ‘t’. Parameters can be used in the expression with the values given as additional keyword arguments. Expressions should be relative to the lab frame.

Parameters:

  • Ex_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Ex field [V/m]

  • Ey_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Ey field [V/m]

  • Ez_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Ez field [V/m]

  • Bx_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Bx field [T]

  • By_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing By field [T]

  • Bz_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Bz field [T]

  • lower_bound (vector, optional) – Lower bound of the region where the field is applied [m].

  • upper_bound (vector, optional) – Upper bound of the region where the field is applied [m]

class pywarpx.picmi.ConstantAppliedField(Ex=None, Ey=None, Ez=None, Bx=None, By=None, Bz=None, lower_bound=[None, None, None], upper_bound=[None, None, None], **kw)[source]

Describes a constant applied field

Parameters:

  • Ex (float, default=0.) – Constant Ex field [V/m]

  • Ey (float, default=0.) – Constant Ey field [V/m]

  • Ez (float, default=0.) – Constant Ez field [V/m]

  • Bx (float, default=0.) – Constant Bx field [T]

  • By (float, default=0.) – Constant By field [T]

  • Bz (float, default=0.) – Constant Bz field [T]

  • lower_bound (vector, optional) – Lower bound of the region where the field is applied [m].

  • upper_bound (vector, optional) – Upper bound of the region where the field is applied [m]

class pywarpx.picmi.AnalyticAppliedField(Ex_expression=None, Ey_expression=None, Ez_expression=None, Bx_expression=None, By_expression=None, Bz_expression=None, lower_bound=[None, None, None], upper_bound=[None, None, None], **kw)[source]

Describes an analytic applied field

The expressions should be in terms of the position and time, written as ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘z’, ‘t’. Parameters can be used in the expression with the values given as additional keyword arguments. Expressions should be relative to the lab frame.

Parameters:

  • Ex_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Ex field [V/m]

  • Ey_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Ey field [V/m]

  • Ez_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Ez field [V/m]

  • Bx_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Bx field [T]

  • By_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing By field [T]

  • Bz_expression (string, optional) – Analytic expression describing Bz field [T]

  • lower_bound (vector, optional) – Lower bound of the region where the field is applied [m].

  • upper_bound (vector, optional) – Upper bound of the region where the field is applied [m]

class pywarpx.picmi.PlasmaLens(period, starts, lengths, strengths_E=None, strengths_B=None, **kw)[source]

Custom class to setup a plasma lens lattice. The applied fields are dependent only on the transverse position.

Parameters:

  • period (float) – Periodicity of the lattice (in lab frame, in meters)

  • starts (list of floats) – The start of each lens relative to the periodic repeat

  • lengths (list of floats) – The length of each lens

  • strengths_E=None (list of floats, default = 0.) – The electric field strength of each lens

  • strengths_B=None (list of floats, default = 0.) – The magnetic field strength of each lens

The field that is applied depends on the transverse position of the particle, (x,y)

  • Ex = x*strengths_E

  • Ey = y*strengths_E

  • Bx = +y*strengths_B

  • By = -x*strengths_B

class pywarpx.picmi.Mirror(x_front_location=None, y_front_location=None, z_front_location=None, depth=None, number_of_cells=None, **kw)[source]

Describes a perfectly reflecting mirror, where the E and B fields are zeroed out in a plane of finite thickness.

Parameters:

  • x_front_location (float, optional (see comment below)) – Location in x of the front of the nirror [m]

  • y_front_location (float, optional (see comment below)) – Location in y of the front of the nirror [m]

  • z_front_location (float, optional (see comment below)) – Location in z of the front of the nirror [m]

  • depth (float, optional (see comment below)) – Depth of the mirror [m]

  • number_of_cells (integer, optional (see comment below)) – Minimum numer of cells zeroed out

Only one of the [x,y,z]_front_location should be specified. The mirror will be set perpendicular to the respective direction and infinite in the others. The depth of the mirror will be the maximum of the specified depth and number_of_cells, or the code’s default value if neither are specified.

Diagnostics

class pywarpx.picmi.ParticleDiagnostic(period, species=None, data_list=None, write_dir=None, step_min=None, step_max=None, parallelio=None, name=None, **kw)[source]

Defines the particle diagnostics in the simulation frame

Parameters:

  • period (integer) – Period of time steps that the diagnostic is performed

  • species (species instance or list of species instances, optional) – Species to write out. If not specified, all species are written. Note that the name attribute must be defined for the species.

  • data_list (list of strings, optional) – The data to be written out. Possible values ‘position’, ‘momentum’, ‘weighting’. Defaults to the output list of the implementing code.

  • write_dir (string, optional) – Directory where data is to be written

  • step_min (integer, default=0) – Minimum step at which diagnostics could be written

  • step_max (integer, default=unbounded) – Maximum step at which diagnostics could be written

  • parallelio (bool, optional) – If set to True, particle diagnostics are dumped in parallel

  • name (string, optional) – Sets the base name for the diagnostic output files

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_format ({plotfile, checkpoint, openpmd, ascent, sensei}, optional) – Diagnostic file format

  • warpx_openpmd_backend ({bp, h5, json}, optional) – Openpmd backend file format

  • warpx_file_prefix (string, optional) – Prefix on the diagnostic file name

  • warpx_file_min_digits (integer, optional) – Minimum number of digits for the time step number in the file name

  • warpx_random_fraction (float, optional) – Random fraction of particles to include in the diagnostic

  • warpx_uniform_stride (integer, optional) – Stride to down select to the particles to include in the diagnostic

  • warpx_plot_filter_function (string, optional) – Analytic expression to down select the particles to in the diagnostic

class pywarpx.picmi.FieldDiagnostic(grid, period, data_list=None, write_dir=None, step_min=None, step_max=None, number_of_cells=None, lower_bound=None, upper_bound=None, parallelio=None, name=None, **kw)[source]

Defines the electromagnetic field diagnostics in the simulation frame

Parameters:

  • grid (grid instance) – Grid object for the diagnostic

  • period (integer) – Period of time steps that the diagnostic is performed

  • data_list (list of strings, optional) – List of quantities to write out. Possible values ‘rho’, ‘E’, ‘B’, ‘J’, ‘Ex’ etc. Defaults to the output list of the implementing code.

  • write_dir (string, optional) – Directory where data is to be written

  • step_min (integer, default=0) – Minimum step at which diagnostics could be written

  • step_max (integer, default=unbounded) – Maximum step at which diagnostics could be written

  • number_of_cells (vector of integers, optional) – Number of cells in each dimension. If not given, will be obtained from grid.

  • lower_bound (vector of floats, optional) – Lower corner of diagnostics box in each direction. If not given, will be obtained from grid.

  • upper_bound (vector of floats, optional) – Higher corner of diagnostics box in each direction. If not given, will be obtained from grid.

  • parallelio (bool, optional) – If set to True, field diagnostics are dumped in parallel

  • name (string, optional) – Sets the base name for the diagnostic output files

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_plot_raw_fields (bool, optional) – Flag whether to dump the raw fields

  • warpx_plot_raw_fields_guards (bool, optional) – Flag whether the raw fields should include the guard cells

  • warpx_format ({plotfile, checkpoint, openpmd, ascent, sensei}, optional) – Diagnostic file format

  • warpx_openpmd_backend ({bp, h5, json}, optional) – Openpmd backend file format

  • warpx_file_prefix (string, optional) – Prefix on the diagnostic file name

  • warpx_file_min_digits (integer, optional) – Minimum number of digits for the time step number in the file name

  • warpx_dump_rz_modes (bool, optional) – Flag whether to dump the data for all RZ modes

  • warpx_particle_fields_to_plot (list of ParticleFieldDiagnostics) – List of ParticleFieldDiagnostic classes to install in the simulation. Error checking is handled in the class itself.

  • warpx_particle_fields_species (list of strings, optional) – Species for which to calculate particle_fields_to_plot functions. Fields will be calculated separately for each specified species. If not passed, default is all of the available particle species.

pywarpx.picmi.ElectrostaticFieldDiagnostic

alias of FieldDiagnostic

class pywarpx.picmi.Checkpoint(period=1, write_dir=None, name=None, **kw)[source]

Sets up checkpointing of the simulation, allowing for later restarts

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_file_prefix (string) – The prefix to the checkpoint directory names

  • warpx_file_min_digits (integer) – Minimum number of digits for the time step number in the checkpoint directory name.

Lab-frame diagnostics diagnostics are used when running boosted-frame simulations.

class pywarpx.picmi.LabFrameFieldDiagnostic(grid, num_snapshots, dt_snapshots, data_list=None, z_subsampling=1, time_start=0.0, write_dir=None, parallelio=None, name=None, **kw)[source]

Defines the electromagnetic field diagnostics in the lab frame

Parameters:

  • grid (grid instance) – Grid object for the diagnostic

  • num_snapshots (integer) – Number of lab frame snapshots to make

  • dt_snapshots (float) – Time between each snapshot in lab frame

  • data_list (list of strings, optional) – List of quantities to write out. Possible values ‘rho’, ‘E’, ‘B’, ‘J’, ‘Ex’ etc. Defaults to the output list of the implementing code.

  • z_subsampling (integer, default=1) – A factor which is applied on the resolution of the lab frame reconstruction

  • time_start (float, default=0) – Time for the first snapshot in lab frame

  • write_dir (string, optional) – Directory where data is to be written

  • parallelio (bool, optional) – If set to True, field diagnostics are dumped in parallel

  • name (string, optional) – Sets the base name for the diagnostic output files

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_format (string, optional) – Passed to <diagnostic name>.format

  • warpx_openpmd_backend (string, optional) – Passed to <diagnostic name>.openpmd_backend

  • warpx_file_prefix (string, optional) – Passed to <diagnostic name>.file_prefix

  • warpx_intervals (integer or string) – Selects the snapshots to be made, instead of using “num_snapshots” which makes all snapshots. “num_snapshots” is ignored.

  • warpx_file_min_digits (integer, optional) – Passed to <diagnostic name>.file_min_digits

  • warpx_buffer_size (integer, optional) – Passed to <diagnostic name>.buffer_size

  • warpx_lower_bound (vector of floats, optional) – Passed to <diagnostic name>.lower_bound

  • warpx_upper_bound (vector of floats, optional) – Passed to <diagnostic name>.upper_bound

Particles

Species objects are a collection of particles with similar properties. For instance, background plasma electrons, background plasma ions and an externally injected beam could each be their own particle species.

class pywarpx.picmi.Species(particle_type=None, name=None, charge_state=None, charge=None, mass=None, initial_distribution=None, particle_shape=None, density_scale=None, method=None, **kw)[source]

Sets up the species to be simulated. The species charge and mass can be specified by setting the particle type or by setting them directly. If the particle type is specified, the charge or mass can be set to override the value from the type.

Parameters:

  • particle_type (string, optional) – A string specifying an elementary particle, atom, or other, as defined in the openPMD 2 species type extension, openPMD-standard/EXT_SpeciesType.md

  • name (string, optional) – Name of the species

  • method ({'Boris', 'Vay', 'Higuera-Cary', 'Li' , 'free-streaming', 'LLRK4'}) –

    The particle advance method to use. Code-specific method can be specified using ‘other:<method>’. The default is code dependent.

    • ’Boris’: Standard “leap-frog” Boris advance

    • ’Vay’:

    • ’Higuera-Cary’:

    • ’Li’ :

    • ’free-streaming’: Advance with no fields

    • ’LLRK4’: Landau-Lifschitz radiation reaction formula with RK-4)

  • charge_state (float, optional) – Charge state of the species (applies only to atoms) [1]

  • charge (float, optional) – Particle charge, required when type is not specified, otherwise determined from type [C]

  • mass (float, optional) – Particle mass, required when type is not specified, otherwise determined from type [kg]

  • initial_distribution (distribution instance) – The initial distribution loaded at t=0. Must be one of the standard distributions implemented.

  • density_scale (float, optional) – A scale factor on the density given by the initial_distribution

  • particle_shape ({'NGP', 'linear', 'quadratic', 'cubic'}) – Particle shape used for deposition and gather. If not specified, the value from the Simulation object will be used. Other values maybe specified that are code dependent.

Implementation specific documentation

See Input Parameters for more information.

Parameters:

  • warpx_boost_adjust_transverse_positions (bool, default=False) – Whether to adjust transverse positions when apply the boost to the simulation frame

  • warpx_self_fields_required_precision (float, default=1.e-11) – Relative precision on the electrostatic solver (when using the relativistic solver)

  • warpx_self_fields_absolute_tolerance (float, default=0.) – Absolute precision on the electrostatic solver (when using the relativistic solver)

  • warpx_self_fields_max_iters (integer, default=200) – Maximum number of iterations for the electrostatic solver for the species

  • warpx_self_fields_verbosity (integer, default=2) – Level of verbosity for the electrostatic solver

  • warpx_save_previous_position (bool, default=False) – Whether to save the old particle positions

  • warpx_do_not_deposit (bool, default=False) – Whether or not to deposit the charge and current density for for this species

  • warpx_do_not_push (bool, default=False) – Whether or not to push this species

  • warpx_do_not_gather (bool, default=False) – Whether or not to gather the fields from grids for this species

  • warpx_random_theta (bool, default=True) – Whether or not to add random angle to the particles in theta when in RZ mode.

  • warpx_reflection_model_xlo (string, default='0.') – Expression (in terms of the velocity “v”) specifying the probability that the particle will reflect on the lower x boundary

  • warpx_reflection_model_xhi (string, default='0.') – Expression (in terms of the velocity “v”) specifying the probability that the particle will reflect on the upper x boundary

  • warpx_reflection_model_ylo (string, default='0.') – Expression (in terms of the velocity “v”) specifying the probability that the particle will reflect on the lower y boundary

  • warpx_reflection_model_yhi (string, default='0.') – Expression (in terms of the velocity “v”) specifying the probability that the particle will reflect on the upper y boundary

  • warpx_reflection_model_zlo (string, default='0.') – Expression (in terms of the velocity “v”) specifying the probability that the particle will reflect on the lower z boundary

  • warpx_reflection_model_zhi (string, default='0.') – Expression (in terms of the velocity “v”) specifying the probability that the particle will reflect on the upper z boundary

  • warpx_save_particles_at_xlo (bool, default=False) – Whether to save particles lost at the lower x boundary

  • warpx_save_particles_at_xhi (bool, default=False) – Whether to save particles lost at the upper x boundary

  • warpx_save_particles_at_ylo (bool, default=False) – Whether to save particles lost at the lower y boundary

  • warpx_save_particles_at_yhi (bool, default=False) – Whether to save particles lost at the upper y boundary

  • warpx_save_particles_at_zlo (bool, default=False) – Whether to save particles lost at the lower z boundary

  • warpx_save_particles_at_zhi (bool, default=False) – Whether to save particles lost at the upper z boundary

  • warpx_save_particles_at_eb (bool, default=False) – Whether to save particles lost at the embedded boundary

  • warpx_do_resampling (bool, default=False) – Whether particles will be resampled

  • warpx_resampling_trigger_intervals (bool, default=0) – Timesteps at which to resample

  • warpx_resampling_trigger_max_avg_ppc (int, default=infinity) – Resampling will be done when the average number of particles per cell exceeds this number

class pywarpx.picmi.MultiSpecies(particle_types=None, names=None, charge_states=None, charges=None, masses=None, proportions=None, initial_distribution=None, particle_shape=None, **kw)[source]

INCOMPLETE: proportions argument is not implemented Multiple species that are initialized with the same distribution. Each parameter can be list, giving a value for each species, or a single value which is given to all species. The species charge and mass can be specified by setting the particle type or by setting them directly. If the particle type is specified, the charge or mass can be set to override the value from the type.

Parameters:

  • particle_types (list of strings, optional) – A string specifying an elementary particle, atom, or other, as defined in the openPMD 2 species type extension, openPMD-standard/EXT_SpeciesType.md

  • names (list of strings, optional) – Names of the species

  • charge_states (list of floats, optional) – Charge states of the species (applies only to atoms)

  • charges (list of floats, optional) – Particle charges, required when type is not specified, otherwise determined from type [C]

  • masses (list of floats, optional) – Particle masses, required when type is not specified, otherwise determined from type [kg]

  • proportions (list of floats, optional) – Proportions of the initial distribution made up by each species

  • initial_distribution (distribution instance) – Initial particle distribution, applied to all species

  • particle_shape ({'NGP', 'linear', 'quadratic', 'cubic'}) – Particle shape used for deposition and gather. If not specified, the value from the Simulation object will be used. Other values maybe specified that are code dependent.

Particle distributions can be used for to initialize particles in a particle species.

class pywarpx.picmi.GaussianBunchDistribution(n_physical_particles, rms_bunch_size, rms_velocity=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], centroid_position=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], centroid_velocity=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], velocity_divergence=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], **kw)[source]

Describes a Gaussian distribution of particles

Parameters:

  • n_physical_particles (integer) – Number of physical particles in the bunch

  • rms_bunch_size (vector of length 3 of floats) – RMS bunch size at t=0 [m]

  • rms_velocity (vector of length 3 of floats, default=[0.,0.,0.]) – RMS velocity spread at t=0 [m/s]

  • centroid_position (vector of length 3 of floats, default=[0.,0.,0.]) – Position of the bunch centroid at t=0 [m]

  • centroid_velocity (vector of length 3 of floats, default=[0.,0.,0.]) – Velocity (gamma*V) of the bunch centroid at t=0 [m/s]

  • velocity_divergence (vector of length 3 of floats, default=[0.,0.,0.]) – Expansion rate of the bunch at t=0 [m/s/m]

class pywarpx.picmi.UniformDistribution(density, lower_bound=[None, None, None], upper_bound=[None, None, None], rms_velocity=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], directed_velocity=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], fill_in=None, **kw)[source]

Describes a uniform density distribution of particles

Parameters:

  • density (float) – Physical number density [m^-3]

  • lower_bound (vector of length 3 of floats, optional) – Lower bound of the distribution [m]

  • upper_bound (vector of length 3 of floats, optional) – Upper bound of the distribution [m]

  • rms_velocity (vector of length 3 of floats, default=[0.,0.,0.]) – Thermal velocity spread [m/s]

  • directed_velocity (vector of length 3 of floats, default=[0.,0.,0.]) – Directed, average, velocity [m/s]

  • fill_in (bool, optional) – Flags whether to fill in the empty spaced opened up when the grid moves

class pywarpx.picmi.AnalyticDistribution(density_expression, momentum_expressions=[None, None, None], lower_bound=[None, None, None], upper_bound=[None, None, None], rms_velocity=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], directed_velocity=[0.0, 0.0, 0.0], fill_in=None, **kw)[source]

Describes a uniform density plasma

Parameters:

  • density_expression (string) – Analytic expression describing physical number density (string) [m^-3]. Expression should be in terms of the position, written as ‘x’, ‘y’, and ‘z’. Parameters can be used in the expression with the values given as keyword arguments.

  • momentum_expressions (list of strings) – Analytic expressions describing the gamma*velocity for each axis [m/s]. Expressions should be in terms of the position, written as ‘x’, ‘y’, and ‘z’. Parameters can be used in the expression with the values given as keyword arguments. For any axis not supplied (set to None), directed_velocity will be used.

  • lower_bound (vector of length 3 of floats, optional) – Lower bound of the distribution [m]

  • upper_bound (vector of length 3 of floats, optional) – Upper bound of the distribution [m]

  • rms_velocity (vector of length 3 of floats, detault=[0.,0.,0.]) – Thermal velocity spread [m/s]

  • directed_velocity (vector of length 3 of floats, detault=[0.,0.,0.]) – Directed, average, velocity [m/s]

  • fill_in (bool, optional) – Flags whether to fill in the empty spaced opened up when the grid moves

This example will create a distribution where the density is n0 below rmax and zero elsewhere.:

.. code-block: python
dist = AnalyticDistribution(density_expression=’((x**2+y**2)<rmax**2)*n0’,

rmax = 1., n0 = 1.e20, …)

Implementation specific documentation

Parameters:

warpx_momentum_spread_expressions (list of string) – Analytic expressions describing the gamma*velocity spread for each axis [m/s]. Expressions should be in terms of the position, written as ‘x’, ‘y’, and ‘z’. Parameters can be used in the expression with the values given as keyword arguments. For any axis not supplied (set to None), zero will be used.

class pywarpx.picmi.ParticleListDistribution(x=0.0, y=0.0, z=0.0, ux=0.0, uy=0.0, uz=0.0, weight=0.0, **kw)[source]

Load particles at the specified positions and velocities

Parameters:

  • x (float, default=0.) – List of x positions of the particles [m]

  • y (float, default=0.) – List of y positions of the particles [m]

  • z (float, default=0.) – List of z positions of the particles [m]

  • ux (float, default=0.) – List of ux positions of the particles (ux = gamma*vx) [m/s]

  • uy (float, default=0.) – List of uy positions of the particles (uy = gamma*vy) [m/s]

  • uz (float, default=0.) – List of uz positions of the particles (uz = gamma*vz) [m/s]

  • weight (float) – Particle weight or list of weights, number of real particles per simulation particle

Particle layouts determine how to microscopically place macro particles in a grid cell.

class pywarpx.picmi.GriddedLayout(n_macroparticle_per_cell, grid=None, **kw)[source]

Specifies a gridded layout of particles

Parameters:

  • n_macroparticle_per_cell (vector of integers) – Number of particles per cell along each axis

  • grid (grid instance, optional) – Grid object specifying the grid to follow. If not specified, the underlying grid of the code is used.

class pywarpx.picmi.PseudoRandomLayout(n_macroparticles=None, n_macroparticles_per_cell=None, seed=None, grid=None, **kw)[source]

Specifies a pseudo-random layout of the particles

Parameters:

  • n_macroparticles (integer) – Total number of macroparticles to load. Either this argument or n_macroparticles_per_cell should be supplied.

  • n_macroparticles_per_cell (integer) – Number of macroparticles to load per cell. Either this argument or n_macroparticles should be supplied.

  • seed (integer, optional) – Pseudo-random number generator seed

  • grid (grid instance, optional) – Grid object specifying the grid to follow for n_macroparticles_per_cell. If not specified, the underlying grid of the code is used.

Other operations related to particles:

class pywarpx.picmi.CoulombCollisions(name, species, CoulombLog=None, ndt=None, **kw)[source]

Custom class to handle setup of binary Coulomb collisions in WarpX. If collision initialization is added to picmistandard this can be changed to inherit that functionality.

Parameters:

  • name (string) – Name of instance (used in the inputs file)

  • species (list of species instances) – The species involved in the collision. Must be of length 2.

  • CoulombLog (float, optional) – Value of the Coulomb log to use in the collision cross section. If not supplied, it is calculated from the local conditions.

  • ndt (integer, optional) – The collisions will be applied every “ndt” steps. Must be 1 or larger.

class pywarpx.picmi.MCCCollisions(name, species, background_density, background_temperature, scattering_processes, background_mass=None, max_background_density=None, ndt=None, **kw)[source]

Custom class to handle setup of MCC collisions in WarpX. If collision initialization is added to picmistandard this can be changed to inherit that functionality.

Parameters:

  • name (string) – Name of instance (used in the inputs file)

  • species (species instance) – The species involved in the collision

  • background_density (float or string) – The density of the background. An string expression as a function of (x, y, z, t) can be used.

  • background_temperature (float or string) – The temperature of the background. An string expression as a function of (x, y, z, t) can be used.

  • scattering_processes (dictionary) – The scattering process to use and any needed information

  • background_mass (float, optional) – The mass of the background particle. If not supplied, the default depends on the type of scattering process.

  • max_background_density (float) – The maximum background density. When the background_density is an expression, this must also be specified.

  • ndt (integer, optional) – The collisions will be applied every “ndt” steps. Must be 1 or larger.

class pywarpx.picmi.FieldIonization(model, ionized_species, product_species, **kw)[source]

Field ionization on an ion species

Parameters:

  • model (string) – Ionization model, e.g. “ADK”

  • ionized_species (species instance) – Species that is ionized

  • product_species (species instance) – Species in which ionized electrons are stored.

Implementation specific documentation

WarpX only has ADK ionization model implemented.

Laser Pulses

Laser profiles can be used to initialize laser pulses in the simulation.

class pywarpx.picmi.GaussianLaser(wavelength, waist, duration, propagation_direction, polarization_direction, focal_position, centroid_position, a0=None, E0=None, phi0=None, zeta=None, beta=None, phi2=None, name=None, fill_in=True, **kw)[source]

Specifies a Gaussian laser distribution.

More precisely, the electric field near the focal plane is given by:

\[E(\boldsymbol{x},t) = a_0\times E_0\, \exp\left( -\frac{r^2}{w_0^2} - \frac{(z-z_0-ct)^2}{c^2\tau^2} \right) \cos[ k_0( z - z_0 - ct ) - \phi_{cep} ]\]

where \(k_0 = 2\pi/\lambda_0\) is the wavevector and where \(E_0 = m_e c^2 k_0 / q_e\) is the field amplitude for \(a_0=1\).

Note

The additional terms that arise far from the focal plane (Gouy phase, wavefront curvature, …) are not included in the above formula for simplicity, but are of course taken into account by the code, when initializing the laser pulse away from the focal plane.

Parameters:

  • wavelength (float) – Laser wavelength [m], defined as \(\lambda_0\) in the above formula

  • waist (float) – Waist of the Gaussian pulse at focus [m], defined as \(w_0\) in the above formula

  • duration (float) – Duration of the Gaussian pulse [s], defined as \(\tau\) in the above formula

  • propagation_direction (unit vector of length 3 of floats) – Direction of propagation [1]

  • polarization_direction (unit vector of length 3 of floats) – Direction of polarization [1]

  • focal_position (vector of length 3 of floats) – Position of the laser focus [m]

  • centroid_position (vector of length 3 of floats) – Position of the laser centroid at time 0 [m]

  • a0 (float) – Normalized vector potential at focus Specify either a0 or E0 (E0 takes precedence).

  • E0 (float) – Maximum amplitude of the laser field [V/m] Specify either a0 or E0 (E0 takes precedence).

  • phi0 (float) – Carrier envelope phase (CEP) [rad]

  • zeta (float) – Spatial chirp at focus (in the lab frame) [m.s]

  • beta (float) – Angular dispersion at focus (in the lab frame) [rad.s]

  • phi2 (float) – Temporal chirp at focus (in the lab frame) [s^2]

  • fill_in (bool, default=True) – Flags whether to fill in the empty spaced opened up when the grid moves

  • name (string, optional) – Optional name of the laser

class pywarpx.picmi.AnalyticLaser(field_expression, wavelength, propagation_direction, polarization_direction, amax=None, Emax=None, name=None, fill_in=True, **kw)[source]

Specifies a laser with an analytically described distribution

Parameters:

  • name=None (string, optional) – Optional name of the laser

  • field_expression (string) – Analytic expression describing the electric field of the laser [V/m] Expression should be in terms of the position, ‘X’, ‘Y’, in the plane orthogonal to the propagation direction, and ‘t’ the time. The expression should describe the full field, including the oscillitory component. Parameters can be used in the expression with the values given as keyword arguments.

  • wavelength (float) – Laser wavelength. This should be built into the expression, but some codes require a specified value for numerical purposes.

  • propagation_direction (unit vector of length 3 of floats) – Direction of propagation [1]

  • polarization_direction (unit vector of length 3 of floats) – Direction of polarization [1]

  • amax (float, optional) – Maximum normalized vector potential. Specify either amax or Emax (Emax takes precedence). This should be built into the expression, but some codes require a specified value for numerical purposes.

  • Emax (float, optional) – Maximum amplitude of the laser field [V/m]. Specify either amax or Emax (Emax takes precedence). This should be built into the expression, but some codes require a specified value for numerical purposes.

  • fill_in (bool, default=True) – Flags whether to fill in the empty spaced opened up when the grid moves

Laser injectors control where to initialize laser pulses on the simulation grid.

class pywarpx.picmi.LaserAntenna(position, normal_vector=None, **kw)[source]

Specifies the laser antenna injection method

Parameters:

  • position (vector of strings) – Position of antenna launching the laser [m]

  • normal_vector (vector of strings, optional) – Vector normal to antenna plane, defaults to the laser direction of propagation [1]

Extending a Simulation from Python

When running WarpX directly from Python it is possible to interact with the simulation.

For instance, with the step() method of the simulation class, one could run sim.step(nsteps=1) in a loop:

# Preparation: set up the simulation
#   sim = picmi.Simulation(...)
#   ...

steps = 1000
for _ in range(steps):
    sim.step(nsteps=1)

    # do something custom with the sim object

As a more flexible alternative, one can install callback functions, which will execute a given Python function at a specific location in the WarpX simulation loop.

Callback Locations

These are the functions which allow installing user created functions so that they are called at various places along the time step.

The following three functions allow the user to install, uninstall and verify the different call back types.

These functions all take a callback location name (string) and function or instance method as an argument. Note that if an instance method is used, an extra reference to the method’s object is saved.

The install can be done using a decorator, which has the prefix callfrom. See example below.

Functions can be called at the following times:

  • beforeInitEsolve: before the initial solve for the E fields (i.e. before the PIC loop starts)

  • afterinit: immediately after the init is complete

  • beforeEsolve: before the solve for E fields

  • poissonsolver: In place of the computePhi call but only in an electrostatic simulation

  • afterEsolve: after the solve for E fields

  • beforedeposition: before the particle deposition (for charge and/or current)

  • afterdeposition: after particle deposition (for charge and/or current)

  • beforestep: before the time step

  • afterstep: after the time step

  • afterdiagnostics: after diagnostic output

  • oncheckpointsignal: on a checkpoint signal

  • onbreaksignal: on a break signal. These callbacks will be the last ones executed before the simulation ends.

  • particlescraper: just after the particle boundary conditions are applied but before lost particles are processed

  • particleloader: at the time that the standard particle loader is called

  • particleinjection: called when particle injection happens, after the position advance and before deposition is called, allowing a user defined particle distribution to be injected each time step

  • appliedfields: allows directly specifying any fields to be applied to the particles during the advance

To use a decorator, the syntax is as follows. This will install the function myplots to be called after each step.

@callfromafterstep
def myplots():
    ppzx()

This is equivalent to the following:

def myplots():
    ppzx()

installcallback('afterstep', myplots)
pywarpx.callbacks.installcallback(name, f)[source]

Installs a function to be called at that specified time.

Adds a function to the list of functions called by this callback.

pywarpx.callbacks.isinstalled(name, f)[source]

Checks if a function is installed for this callback.

pywarpx.callbacks.uninstallcallback(name, f)[source]

Uninstalls the function (so it won’t be called anymore).

Removes the function from the list of functions called by this callback.

Data Access

While the simulation is running, callbacks can access the WarpX simulation data in situ.

An important object for data access is Simulation.extension.warpx, which is available only during the simulation run. This object is the Python equivalent to the C++ WarpX simulation class and provides access to field MultiFab and ParticleContainer data.

pywarpx.picmi.Simulation.extension.warpx.getistep()
pywarpx.picmi.Simulation.extension.warpx.gett_new()
pywarpx.picmi.Simulation.extension.warpx.evolve()
pywarpx.picmi.Simulation.extension.finalize()

Call finalize for WarpX and AMReX. Registered to run at program exit.

These and other classes are provided through pyAMReX. After the simulation is initialized, pyAMReX can be accessed via

from pywarpx import picmi, libwarpx

# ... simulation definition ...

# equivalent to
#   import amrex.space3d as amr
# for a 3D simulation
amr = libwarpx.amr  # picks the right 1d, 2d or 3d variant
amr.ParallelDescriptor.NProcs()
amr.ParallelDescriptor.MyProc()
amr.ParallelDescriptor.IOProcessor()
amr.ParallelDescriptor.IOProcessorNumber()

Particles can be added to the simulation at specific positions and with specific attribute values:

from pywarpx import particle_containers, picmi

# ...

electron_wrapper = particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper("electrons")
pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper.add_particles(self, x=None, y=None, z=None, ux=None, uy=None, uz=None, w=None, unique_particles=True, **kwargs)

A function for adding particles to the WarpX simulation.

Parameters:

  • species_name (str) – The type of species for which particles will be added

  • x (arrays or scalars) – The particle positions (default = 0.)

  • y (arrays or scalars) – The particle positions (default = 0.)

  • z (arrays or scalars) – The particle positions (default = 0.)

  • ux (arrays or scalars) – The particle momenta (default = 0.)

  • uy (arrays or scalars) – The particle momenta (default = 0.)

  • uz (arrays or scalars) – The particle momenta (default = 0.)

  • w (array or scalars) – Particle weights (default = 0.)

  • unique_particles (bool) – Whether the particles are unique or duplicated on several processes (default = True)

  • kwargs (dict) – Containing an entry for all the extra particle attribute arrays. If an attribute is not given it will be set to 0.

Properties of the particles already in the simulation can be obtained with various functions.

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper.get_particle_count(self, local=False)

Get the number of particles of this species in the simulation.

Parameters:

local (bool) – If True the particle count on this processor will be returned. Default False.

Returns:

An integer count of the number of particles

Return type:

int

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper.get_particle_structs(self, level, copy_to_host=False)

This returns a list of numpy or cupy arrays containing the particle struct data on each tile for this process. The particle data is represented as a structured array and contains the particle ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘z’, and ‘idcpu’.

Unless copy_to_host is specified, the data for the structs are not copied, but share the underlying memory buffer with WarpX. The arrays are fully writeable.

Note that cupy does not support structs: https://github.com/cupy/cupy/issues/2031 and will return arrays of binary blobs for the AoS (DP: "|V24"). If copied to host via copy_to_host, we correct for the right numpy AoS type.

Parameters:

  • level (int) – The refinement level to reference (default=0)

  • copy_to_host (bool) – For GPU-enabled runs, one can either return the GPU arrays (the default) or force a device-to-host copy.

Returns:

The requested particle struct data

Return type:

List of arrays

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper.get_particle_arrays(self, comp_name, level, copy_to_host=False)

This returns a list of numpy or cupy arrays containing the particle array data on each tile for this process.

Unless copy_to_host is specified, the data for the arrays are not copied, but share the underlying memory buffer with WarpX. The arrays are fully writeable.

Parameters:

  • comp_name (str) – The component of the array data that will be returned

  • level (int) – The refinement level to reference (default=0)

  • copy_to_host (bool) – For GPU-enabled runs, one can either return the GPU arrays (the default) or force a device-to-host copy.

Returns:

The requested particle array data

Return type:

List of arrays

The get_particle_structs() and get_particle_arrays() functions are called by several utility functions of the form get_particle_{comp_name} where comp_name is one of x, y, z, r, theta, id, cpu, weight, ux, uy or uz.

New components can be added via Python.

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper.add_real_comp(self, pid_name, comm=True)

Add a real component to the particle data array.

Parameters:

  • pid_name (str) – Name that can be used to identify the new component

  • comm (bool) – Should the component be communicated

Various diagnostics are also accessible from Python. This includes getting the deposited or total charge density from a given species as well as accessing the scraped particle buffer. See the example in Examples/Tests/ParticleBoundaryScrape for a reference on how to interact with scraped particle data.

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper.get_species_charge_sum(self, local=False)

Returns the total charge in the simulation due to the given species.

Parameters:

local (bool) – If True return total charge per processor

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleContainerWrapper.deposit_charge_density(self, level, clear_rho=True, sync_rho=True)

Deposit this species’ charge density in rho_fp in order to access that data via pywarpx.fields.RhoFPWrapper().

Parameters:

  • species_name (str) – The species name that will be deposited.

  • level (int) – Which AMR level to retrieve scraped particle data from.

  • clear_rho (bool) – If True, zero out rho_fp before deposition.

  • sync_rho (bool) – If True, perform MPI exchange and properly set boundary cells for rho_fp.

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleBoundaryBufferWrapper.get_particle_boundary_buffer_size(self, species_name, boundary, local=False)

This returns the number of particles that have been scraped so far in the simulation from the specified boundary and of the specified species.

Parameters:

  • species_name (str) – Return the number of scraped particles of this species

  • boundary (str) – The boundary from which to get the scraped particle data in the form x/y/z_hi/lo

  • local (bool) – Whether to only return the number of particles in the current processor’s buffer

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleBoundaryBufferWrapper.get_particle_boundary_buffer_structs(self, species_name, boundary, level, copy_to_host=False)

This returns a list of numpy or cupy arrays containing the particle struct data for a species that has been scraped by a specific simulation boundary. The particle data is represented as a structured array and contains the particle ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘z’, and ‘idcpu’.

Unless copy_to_host is specified, the data for the structs are not copied, but share the underlying memory buffer with WarpX. The arrays are fully writeable.

Note that cupy does not support structs: https://github.com/cupy/cupy/issues/2031 and will return arrays of binary blobs for the AoS (DP: "|V24"). If copied to host via copy_to_host, we correct for the right numpy AoS type.

Parameters:

  • species_name (str) – The species name that the data will be returned for

  • boundary (str) – The boundary from which to get the scraped particle data in the form x/y/z_hi/lo or eb.

  • level (int) – The refinement level to reference (default=0)

  • copy_to_host (bool) – For GPU-enabled runs, one can either return the GPU arrays (the default) or force a device-to-host copy.

Returns:

The requested particle struct data

Return type:

List of arrays

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleBoundaryBufferWrapper.get_particle_boundary_buffer(self, species_name, boundary, comp_name, level)

This returns a list of numpy or cupy arrays containing the particle array data for a species that has been scraped by a specific simulation boundary.

The data for the arrays are not copied, but share the underlying memory buffer with WarpX. The arrays are fully writeable.

Parameters:

  • species_name (str) – The species name that the data will be returned for.

  • boundary (str) – The boundary from which to get the scraped particle data in the form x/y/z_hi/lo or eb.

  • comp_name (str) – The component of the array data that will be returned. If “step_scraped” the special attribute holding the timestep at which a particle was scraped will be returned.

  • level (int) – Which AMR level to retrieve scraped particle data from.

pywarpx.particle_containers.ParticleBoundaryBufferWrapper.clear_buffer(self)

Clear the buffer that holds the particles lost at the boundaries.

The embedded boundary conditions can be modified when using the electrostatic solver.

pywarpx.picmi.Simulation.extension.warpx.set_potential_on_eb()