Python PIC

SAND2025-14281O Python PIC is a tool that implements textbook particle-in-cell methods for modeling plasma in electrostatic fields. The code is based on algorithms adapted from the website Particle in Cell. It features a simple design with a pedagogical emphasis, making it small and straightforward enough to be integrated into an existing open-source Sandia project called Dakota. Python PIC could provide value to the Dakota community for testing uncertainty quantification, sensitivity analysis, surrogate construction, and optimization and calibration algorithms on problems with inherent noise related to randomness in particle treatment using PIC. Additionally, it could benefit the plasma modeling community by demonstrating how Dakota can facilitate studies in these areas. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.