A Comparative Analysis of Relativistic Particle Pushers vis-\`a-vis Computation Time & Accuracy

TL;DR

This paper compares the computational efficiency and accuracy of Boris, Vay, and Higuera-Cary relativistic particle pushers across different relativistic regimes, proposing a fitness parameter to aid in selecting the most suitable integrator.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive comparison of three relativistic particle pushers in terms of run-time and accuracy, introducing a fitness parameter for better integrator selection.

Findings

Boris, Vay, and Higuera-Cary pushers exhibit different performance profiles depending on relativistic regime.

The proposed fitness parameter helps determine the most suitable integrator for specific simulation conditions.

The study offers practical guidance for choosing particle pushers in computational plasma physics.

Abstract

The performance of relativistic particle pushers has long been a topic of interest in the field of computational plasma physics, particularly from the point of view of the particle-in-cell approach. Previous works undertaken to compare such integrators have predominantly targeted the ultra-relativistic regime. In this paper, we utilize a custom-built code to study the core run-times of the Boris, the Vay, and the Higuera-Cary particle pushers for low-, high-, and ultra-relativistic particles. This is followed by a comparison of the three integrators in terms of accuracy and error. A fitness parameter is then proposed that can serve as a one-stop value to determine which method is more suitable for a particular simulation setup. It is hoped that through knowledge of such intricacies, the choice for the integrator will be easier to make depending on the problem at hand.