Classical Radiation Reaction in Particle-In-Cell Simulations

TL;DR

This paper compares various models for classical radiation reaction in ultra-intense laser-particle interactions, selecting the Landau-Lifshitz model for implementation in a PIC code to improve simulation accuracy.

Contribution

The paper evaluates multiple radiation reaction models and implements the Landau-Lifshitz model into the Osiris PIC code for enhanced simulation of ultrarelativistic particles.

Findings

Landau-Lifshitz model is suitable for PIC implementation

Comparison of models with analytical results shows advantages of the chosen model

Discussion of numerical issues improves PIC simulation accuracy

Abstract

Under the presence of ultra high intensity lasers or other intense electromagnetic fields the motion of particles in the ultrarelativistic regime can be severely affected by radiation reaction. The standard particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithms do not include radiation reaction effects. Even though this is a well known mechanism, there is not yet a definite algorithm nor a standard technique to include radiation reaction in PIC codes. We have compared several models for the calculation of the radiation reaction force, with the goal of implementing an algorithm for classical radiation reaction in the Osiris framework, a state-of-the-art PIC code. The results of the different models are compared with standard analytical results, and the relevance/advantages of each model are discussed. Numerical issues relevant to PIC codes such as resolution requirements, application of radiation reaction to macro particles and computational cost are also addressed. The Landau and Lifshitz reduced model is chosen for implementation.