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| EPOCH (code) | |
|---|---|
| Name | EPOCH |
| Title | EPOCH (code) |
| Released | 1990s |
| Programming language | Fortran, C |
| Operating system | Unix, Linux |
| License | Proprietary / Academic |
EPOCH (code) is a particle-in-cell simulation suite used for kinetic plasma modelling, high-energy-density physics, laser–plasma interaction studies and computational electrodynamics. It is developed and maintained by research groups and institutions with contributions from plasma physicists, computational scientists and applied mathematicians. The code is deployed on university clusters, national laboratories and supercomputing facilities for studies related to inertial confinement fusion, space plasma processes and accelerator physics.
EPOCH provides explicit particle-in-cell algorithms for simulating charged particle dynamics, electromagnetic fields and collision processes across scales relevant to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Princeton University, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and other research institutions. The suite supports multi-dimensional meshes, particle species definitions, boundary conditions and diagnostics used by researchers from Imperial College London, University of Oxford, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of California, Berkeley. It interfaces with visualization tools and data-analysis packages adopted at Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Max Planck Society, and CEA facilities.
EPOCH was initiated by collaborations among UK plasma groups and international partners during the 1990s, drawing on methods developed at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and ideas from numerical plasma physics communities associated with ITER, JET, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and university research groups such as University of Warwick and University of St Andrews. Over successive releases the project incorporated contributions from scientists linked to University of Strathclyde, Queen's University Belfast, University of York, University of Edinburgh, University of Manchester, University of Glasgow, and national laboratories including STFC and EPSRC-funded teams. Development milestones reflect advances in parallel computing architectures influenced by procurements at National Centre for Supercomputing Applications, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and directives from strategic computing programs at European Commission and UK Research and Innovation.
EPOCH implements a grid-based electromagnetic field solver and particle pusher using explicit time-stepping derived from algorithms refined in the community around CERN, DESY, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Fermilab, and research groups at JAEA. Core numerical methods include variations of the Boris pusher, finite-difference time-domain solvers for Maxwell’s equations, current deposition schemes, and charge-conserving algorithms developed in contexts connected to Los Alamos National Laboratory and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Parallelization is achieved via domain decomposition and message-passing paradigms used at Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, leveraging libraries and tools common to teams at NVIDIA, Intel Corporation, AMD, Cray Research, and high-performance computing consortia including PRACE.
The code supports kinetic descriptions for multiple particle species, collision operators, radiation reaction models, and modules for laser–plasma coupling used in studies at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, LBNL, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories. EPOCH includes options for modelling relativistic effects relevant to experiments at Helmholtz Association facilities, wakefield acceleration scenarios investigated at DESY and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and magnetized plasma processes pertinent to missions run by European Space Agency and NASA. Modules reflect research lines pursued at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Princeton University, University of California, Los Angeles, and collaborations with industry partners such as General Atomics.
EPOCH is implemented in compiled languages with optimizations for distributed-memory supercomputers and multi-core clusters used at Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, NERSC, and national facilities managed by UKRI. Performance tuning incorporates practices from teams at National Institute of Standards and Technology, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and vendor collaborations with NVIDIA and Intel Corporation to exploit vectorization and GPU acceleration where available. Benchmark studies and scaling tests have been reported by groups at Imperial College London, University of Oxford, University of Strathclyde, and University of Bristol on machines provided by PRACE and regional supercomputing centers.
Researchers have applied EPOCH to simulate laser-driven plasma experiments performed at Central Laser Facility, National Ignition Facility, Omega Laser Facility, and novel accelerator concepts tested at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and DESY. Studies include modelling of fast electron generation, ion acceleration, collisionless shocks relevant to observations by European Space Agency missions, and laboratory astrophysics experiments undertaken at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Case studies and comparisons with experiments have been published by teams at Imperial College London, Princeton University, University College London, University of Cambridge, and Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics.
Distribution and licensing arrangements reflect academic collaborations and institutional policies at organizations such as University of Warwick, STFC, EPSRC, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, and national laboratories including LLNL and LANL. Source access is commonly granted to collaborating universities, research institutes and consortia under academic or institutional licenses, with support for deployment on platforms administered by UK Research and Innovation and European Commission funded infrastructures. For acquisition and collaboration inquiries, researchers typically contact lead teams at the originating institutions and national facility partners.
Category:Simulation software