General geometry PIC for MIMD computers

Summary form only given. An extension of virtual particle (VP) electromagnetic particle-in-cell algorithms to body-fitted element nets is described. These new schemes are shown to be well-suited to implementation on distributed memory multiple-instruction multiple-data computers. The approach is to substitute the finite element approximations into the general curvilinear form of the action integral expression for the Maxwell-Vlasov equations. Correct choice of covariant and contravariant field components and weighting leads to coordinate-independent forms for the field equations, current assignment, and charge assignment. Multiblock decomposition of complex regions into local ijk blocks makes computationally fast and accurate body-fitted particle simulation practicable in complex geometry devices.