A Simple Plasma Code

As computers become faster, have more memory, and use multiple parallel processors, large, complex codes that more accurately simulate physical phenomena have emerged to utilize this capability. Most problems can benefit from this approach and many require it. But not all! There are problems for which simpler methods on more modest computers still work. The trick is to identify those problems, write the codes, and make their implementation sufficiently simple that they can be used conveniently by those who could profit from them. A Simple Plasma Code has been written with this philosophy in mind. It retains just enough physics to allow realistic simulations to be formulated and run quickly, even on a personal computer. This paper describes the physical model, its numerical implementation, and presents a sample simulation