Perfectly matched layers implementation for E-H fields and complex wave envelope propagation in the \textsc{Smilei} PIC code (Q6929161)

The authors consider perfectly matched layers (PMLs) for systems of partial differential equations in space and time to simulate open boundaries. This approach represents an alternative to absorbing boundary conditions. The authors derive PML techniques in two cases. First, Maxwell's equations are examined, where a complex coordinate stretching is applied. Second, a wave equation of second order is considered using an envelope model. In each case, the authors apply an explicit finite difference method to compute a numerical solution on grids in the space-time domain. The computations involve complex numbers in both cases. The PMLs are constructed for Cartesian coordinates as well as cylindrical coordinates.\N\NThe authors implemented their methods in the particle-in-cell (PIC) code Smilei, see [\textit{J. Derouillat} et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 222, 351--373 (2018; Zbl 07693056)]. The implementation is freely available as open source code. The authors present results of numerical computations, where the test examples describe a laser-plasma interaction in two space dimensions. The solutions of the PML approaches are compared to solutions of alternative models with absorbing boundary conditions. The numerical results confirm that the constructed PMLs yield the desired properties. Thus a wave reflection is omitted at the interior boundary of the PMLs.