A gridding method for object-oriented PIC codes

Summary form only given. A simple, rule-based gridding method for object-oriented PIC (particle-in-cell) codes is described which is not only capable of dealing with complicated structures such as multiply connected regions, but is also computationally faster than classical gridding techniques. Using these "smart" grids, vacant cells (e.g., cells enclosed by conductors) will never have to be stored or calculated, thus avoiding the usual situation of having to zero electromagnetic fields within conductors after valuable CPU time has been spent in calculating the fields within these cells in the first place. This object-oriented gridding technique makes use of encapsulating characteristics of actual physical objects (particles, fields, grids, etc.) in C++ classes and supporting software reuse of these entitles through C++ class inheritance relations. It has been implemented in the form of a simple 2-D plasma PIC code, and forms the initial effort of an AFOSR research project to develop a flexible software simulation environment for PIC algorithms based on object-oriented technology.