Energy Loss of High-Energy Particles in Particle-in-Cell Simulation

When a charged particle moves through a plasma at a speed much higher than the thermal velocity of the plasma, it is subjected to the force of the electrostatic field induced in the plasma by itself and loses its energy. This process is well-known as the stopping power of a plasma. In this paper we show that the same process works in particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations as well and the energy loss rate of fast particles due to this process is mainly determined by the number of plasma electrons contained in the electron skin depth volume. However, since there are generally very few particles in that volume in PIC simulations compared with real plasmas, the energy loss effect can be exaggerated significantly and can affect the results. Therefore, especially for the simulations that investigate the particle acceleration processes, the number of particles used in the simulations should be chosen large enough to avoid this artificial energy loss.