ELBA (ELECTRON-BEAMS IN ACCELERATORS) PARTICLE SIMULATION CODE

ELBA is a three-dimensional, particle-in-cell, simulation code that has been developed to study the propagation and transport of relativistic charged particle beams. The code is particularly suited to the simulation of relativistic electron beams propagating through collisionless or slightly collisional plasmas or through external electric or magnetic fields. Particle motion is followed via a coordinate ''window'' in the laboratory frame that moves at the speed of light. This scheme allows us to model only the immediate vicinity of the beam. Because no information can move in the forward direction in these coordinates, particle and field data can be handled in a simple way that allows for very large scale simulations. A mapping scheme has been implemented that, with corrections to Maxwell's equations, allows the inclusion of bends in the simulation system.