Splitting methods for time integration of trajectories in combined electric and magnetic fields

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2015 Dec;92(6):063310. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.063310. Epub 2015 Dec 28.

Abstract

The equations of motion of a single particle subject to an arbitrary electric and a static magnetic field form a Poisson system. We present a second-order time integration method which preserves well the Poisson structure and compare it to commonly used algorithms, such as the Boris scheme. All the methods are represented in a general framework of splitting methods. We use the so-called ϕ functions, which give efficient ways for both analyzing and implementing the algorithms. Numerical experiments show an excellent long term stability for the method considered.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't