Implementation and Validation of Collisions in a New Particle-in-Cell Code

Elastic and inelastic collisions in a new particle-in-cell (PIC) code are computed with the binary Monte Carlo scattering method and used in plasma simulations of the Princeton Field Reversed Configuration (PFRC). We discuss the implementation of Coulomb scattering, neutral scattering, electron impact ionization, and fusion with shared memory and Graphical Processing Unit acceleration. We measure the simulated electrical conductivity in solid density copper, stopping of relativistic electrons in solid aluminum targets, plasma densification due to the breakdown of helium by an applied electric field, and neutron spectrums generated by thermonuclear and beam-target fusion numerical tests. An update is given on fully-integrated electromagnetic PIC simulations of PFRC, a field reversed configuration that demonstrates plasma heating by odd-parity rotating magnetic fields.