Computer Simulation of Convective Plasma Cells

TL;DR

This paper introduces PCell, a computer simulation tool for visualizing magnetic field evolution in 2D convective plasma cells, aiding understanding of stellar plasma processes through interactive graphics.

Contribution

It presents a novel software program, PCell, capable of simulating and visualizing magnetic field dynamics in convective plasma cells with user interaction and multimedia output.

Findings

Effective visualization of magnetic field evolution.

Interactive simulation with user-created movies.

Dual implementation with GNUPLOT and OpenGL.

Abstract

Computer simulations of plasmas are relevant nowadays, because it helps us understand physical processes taking place in the sun and other stellar objects. We developed a program called PCell which is intended for displaying the evolution of the magnetic field in a 2D convective plasma cell with perfect conducting walls for different stationary plasma velocity fields. Applications of this program are presented. This software works interactively with the mouse and the users can create their own movies in MPEG format. The programs were written in Fortran and C. There are two versions of the program (GNUPLOT and OpenGL). GNUPLOT and OpenGL are used to display the simulation.