AHKASH: a new Hybrid particle-in-cell code for simulations of astrophysical collisionless plasma

We introduce Astrophysical Hybrid-Kinetic simulations with the FLASH code (AHKASH) – a new Hybrid particle-in-cell (PIC) code developed within the framework of the multiphysics code FLASH. The new code uses a second-order accurate Boris integrator and a predictor–predictor–corrector algorithm for advancing the Hybrid-kinetic equations, using the constraint transport method to ensure that magnetic fields are divergence-free. The code supports various interpolation schemes between the particles and grid cells, with post-interpolation smoothing to reduce finite particle noise. We further implement a δf method to study instabilities in weakly collisional plasmas. The new code is tested on standard physical problems such as the motion of charged particles in uniform and spatially varying magnetic fields, the propagation of Alfvén and whistler waves, and Landau damping of ion acoustic waves. We test different interpolation kernels and demonstrate the necessity of performing post-interpolation smoothing. We couple the TURBGEN turbulence driving module to the new Hybrid PIC code, allowing us to test the code on the highly complex physical problem of the turbulent dynamo. To investigate steady-state turbulence with a fixed sonic Mach number, it is important to maintain isothermal plasma conditions. Therefore, we introduce a novel cooling method for Hybrid PIC codes and provide tests and calibrations of this method to keep the plasma isothermal. We describe and test the ‘hybrid precision’ method, which significantly reduces (by a factor ∼ 1.5) the computational cost, without compromising the accuracy of the numerical solutions. Finally, we test the parallel scalability of the new code, showing excellent scaling up to 10,000 cores.