High temperature nuclear fusion plasmas confined in the magnetic field and plasmas seen in nature each show very complicated behavior. Simulation research using a supercomputer plays an important role as one way to investigate such complicated phenomena. In simulation research, the behavior of complex plasma can be reproduced in a computer using various models. These models are properly used depending on the phenomenon to be reproduced. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation is used to investigate kinetic phenomena in plasma (e.g., interaction between particle and wave in plasma). In PIC simulation, it is possible to simulate the complicated phenomena of plasma by solving the equation of motion of individual charged particles and the Maxwell equations self-consistently. In this topic, we learn the basics of the PIC method and perform the simulation in order to understand kinetic phenomena in plasma.

Examples of particle simulation (left upper: Bunemann instability; right upper: Landau damping; left lower: ion acoustic instability; right lower: scene of discussion)